The Summer Before Junior Year
by BlodreinaBeauty
Summary: Aw yes, we came back into season three with little knowledge of what really went on over the summer. Well...I am here to write the details! It is a lot of bughead, as I do love them but it will follow the plot mostly and will involve almost all Riverdale characters. Reviews are appreciated! I do not own anything Riverdale. Check out my other two Riverdale Fanfictions as well.
1. Chapter 1

**Bughead Summer**

 **Chapter One**

 **Jughead**

"Where's Betty?" I ask Veronica. She has tears on her face. Her body is clearly shaking. She has someone on the phone with her but right now all I care about is finding my Betty. Veronica pushes her phone to the side and points to the sidewalk across the parking lot by my motorcycle. I nod to her, grazing my hand over her shoulder before I run across the parking lot to her.

Betty is standing by my motorcycle with her arms over her chest. She has tears on her face and is clearly in panic.

"Betty?" I ask.

She doesn't say anything.

"We're going to get him out of there," I promise.

She shakes her head and shrugs, looking terrified.

"What if we don't? What if he's in there forever? What if there's nothing any of us can do?" she asks all at once. I can see her chest rising and falling so quickly I am scared that she is going to throw herself into a panic attack soon. I know she loves Archie. I do too. But this panic isn't going to help anyone. And all it does is scare me to death.

"He's probably scared to death! He's alone. Everyone knows now! Everyone saw them arrest him! People are already forming opinions. Even when he does come out, he's not going to be safe. Jughead, he's alone! We're his best friends, we should be with him, talking to him, getting him out of there!" she shouts.

"Okay. Betty, I need you to remember how to breathe," I say.

"Why does it matter? If we don't have Archie. God, Ronnie is probably freaking out," she says, almost heaving. I can see her intake breath but she is unable to let it go. I grab her arms when her eyes start looking glossy and her legs go weak. She breathes heavily but it's like she is never getting enough air.

"Betty? Betty!" I say a few times, holding her hand. But she doesn't let it fall from the fists she is holding it in. She is shaking so I unravel her bleeding hand, not caring that she bleeds on me when I wrap my hands in hers.

"Breathe with me," I beg her.

She shakes her head with scared eyes. I put my bloody hands on either side of her face to make her lock eyes with me. We stare at each other as I breathe slowly, making her follow my rhythm.

"Just breathe with me," I ask again.

"I can't," she says, more tears falling down her face. I take one of her hands and put it on my chest. She clenches her fingers around my shirt as I breath as calmly as I can. I want to panic too but I know that is not going to help anyone.

"Betty," I say. "Come on. Just breathe with me. Follow my breathing. Please, Betty. I'm right here with you. I just need you to focus on our breathing. Together."

She nods and starts attempting to breathe the same way. She follows my breathing but hers is hitched and shaking. We do this for a while until that most natural of emotions is gone from her chest. The panic is gone but then the tears come and they are powerful, racking her entire body with fear. She drops her head and her arms in defeat, sobbing. Her tears fall down on the ground like raindrops.

"Betty," I say. "Come here."

She falls into my arms and I encompass her in safety. We hold each other there in the middle of the parking lot by my motorcycle, holding each other in a mess of fear. It is not long before if feel myself losing the ability to hold back my own emotions. I can feel the tears prick at the edges of my eyes. I don't want to scare her. But our best friend is charged with murder. This is not going to be easy.

"I'm scared, Juggie," she says.

I squeeze her tighter, feeling her hands clench my shirt on my back. My hand rests on her head gently, hoping that somehow that will help her enough to calm her down just a little. It doesn't. She is still terrified.

"Me too," I admit, sniffling to prevent that emotion from surfacing. This is not something I should be allowed to get upset about quite yet. We don't know all of the truths. There is still hope.

"He might be alright, Bets," I promise her. "There is a chance that this will all be gone in a few days."

"And there is a chance that it won't be and he'll be in prison, Juggie!" she says against my shirt. I keep her there, not wanting her to leave just yet. I want her warm, soft body against mine. But I also want her panic to leave her completely. We are not far enough away from that possibility of a panic attack for me to let her go.

"Sh, Bets," I tell her. "When we go to see him, you can't be like this. He is already scared to death. Seeing his best friends scared is not going to help him. He needs us. He needs you, Betty."

She pulls away just a little so that I can see her confused face. She tilts her head but I keep my arms on her.

"What do you mean?"

"When something tragic happens, Archie falls on you, Betty. He always has. He fights with me, he has sex with Veronica and he expects you to hug him when he breaks. You're his best friend. When we go to him, we have to be strong," I assure her. I don't even mind when the words come out of my mouth and I know their truth. It doesn't scare me at all. I know she is mine. But right now, we all have to fall into our rolls with Archie. We all have to support him. That's how he would want her to.

"Alright," she agrees, sniffling and wiping her face off. I grab her hands and open them, kissing just above the bloody part of her palms. She looks disappointed and a little sad, tears still on her face.

"It's okay," I tell her. "That's why I held your hands. I wanted you to stop that."

"Sorry," she says in a small voice.

"We have to see him," I tell her. "We have to find out what this is about and like we always do, we're gonna figure out to fix it for him."

She nods. "What if we can't this time? This is the law, Jug. This is not just some mystery we try to solve. This is above us."

"I know," I say, not feeling confident about it either. But we have to do this. If we don't, we are going to lose him for good.

"We'll do it," I assure her, trying to control the shaking in my own hands. But she notices it before I am able to. She grabs my hands and looks down at them, then back to my face. I manage an honest smirk.

"Juggie?" she asks.

"He's my best friend too, Betty," I assure.

She nods.

"I remember being questioned. I remember being sent to juvy. I hated it. A bunch of kids that hated life, that did things just to piss everyone else off. Believe me, Betty. He should not go in there. I was a tough kid. I was raised on the wrong side. Everyone there was too. But he's an outsider. He's a north sider. Everyone there will be a serpent or a ghoulie or just jacked up kids. He can't be in there," I say, realizing that maybe I have my own small amount of panic in my chest. Betty is there to settle my nerves from going haywire.

"Jug," she says quietly, holding her hand on my face. "We'll get him out. We have to. Like you said, it's what we do anyway."

I nod.

"We should go see him," I suggest.

I hand her my helmet and look to the bike. She knows we have to. She is not afraid of it anymore. Part of me thinks she might actually like it. She leans her body onto mine, wrapping her arms around my waist.

"So, when do I get a serpent jacket?" she asks in my ear.

I turn around and look at her beautiful, perfect face. I hadn't realized that she knew she wanted to. I had almost forgotten about the question. With everything else going on, it didn't seem to matter. But it does. Life has to go on for us out here.

She is smiling.

"Whenever you want one," I say.

"I want one," she says with a nod.

"You want to be my queen?" I ask her with a smile that will not go away.

"Of course," she agrees.

As we ride off to our best friend who is currently facing jail time, I am smiling despite it all, with my queen on the back of our stallion.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

 **Betty**

I take comfort in knowing that Jughead isn't going to move his arm from me until I pull away. Sometimes I think that he is the only thing that keeps me from completely imploding. We have been standing in the main entrance to the police station for over an hour. They have been questioning him. Jughead has been almost silent the entire time. He thinks he is hiding it but I can feel his fingers shaking on the edge of my shirt. I lean my head on his shoulder. I hear him sigh, possibly in relief that I am closer to him.

"Jughead," I whisper.

"Hm?" he asks.

"You're shaking," I whisper back. He takes a deep breath and squeezes me a little. But I can hear the smile in his voice.

"I'm alright," he promises. "Just worried about him."

"You don't like it here," I tell him. He nods against my head, probably messing up my perfect ponytail but I pretend not to care at the moment. Instead, I put my hand on his chest so I can feel his pounding heartbeat.

"No. I've never had a good experience here," he admits.

"I guess not," I agree.

"He's been in there for a long time. I wasn't there for long. I told them I wanted a lawyer. The truth is, I didn't know what to do. I was just scared so I said that so I wouldn't say anything stupid."

"It was the right thing to do, Jug. It was smart," I assure him, squeezing his body just a little bit, tracing patterns with my finger on his chest. I can still feel his heart but his breathing slows down, becoming normal as he realizes that talking about this might not be the best thing to do. But he doesn't stop. The thoughts can't leave his mind.

"But he's talking, Betty," Juggie says.

"He'll be alright," I try to assure. But I am not sure. I am scared. Probably a lot more scared than Jughead. I have no idea what he is going through but I do know that Archie is probably saying things that don't make sense.

"What if he says something stupid? What if he says something that he doesn't think is incriminating but is? I mean, they twist words around and ask the same question three different ways to get you to say something that sounds wrong," he says.

"You're right. But we can't do anything about it," I say.

"No, we can't."

Sheriff asshole comes out of the room and walks over to us. He looks angry. He always looks angry. When he sees us both, he rolls his eyes.

"Can I talk to him?" I ask.

"No," he says.

"You can't do that. Unless he's convicted, we can talk to him," Jughead says, dropping his arm from around me and leaving me cold and worried. He steps in front of me, toward the sheriff.

"Are you trying to tell me about the law, Jones?" he asks.

"I just did."

"Jughead," I warn, scared for him. I need him here with me. If we are going to get Archie back, we need everyone that we have left.

"Fine. She can see him," the sheriff says, looking at me. I nod, putting my hand on Jugs. He turns around and looks at me. His eyes are narrowed. His lips are parted slightly and his chest is rising with caution.

"It's okay, Jug," I promise. "I can tell you everything when I come back out."

"He's my friend too," he says.

"Yes, he is. For right now, just let me see him and then you will. We'll figure it out, Juggie," I promise. He nods, knowing that this is the best choice. We can't just go off the handle acting crazy and angry in a police station. We can't make a scene, especially not when he is an out serpent.

"Go," he says with a nod. "I'll be here."

"He was asking for Veronica," Sheriff says.

"She's been on the phone with her dad. She's outside," I tell him.

He nods and then opens the door for me. I find Archie sitting with his head on the table and his hands shaking flat against the surface. I can see his entire body trembling. He doesn't even look up when he hears the door open, just flinches. I wonder what they did to him. What did they ask to make it so horrible? I want to say something but I can't make my mouth move. It is too dry.

Instead of talking, I put my hand on his shoulder. He looks up and his face breaks, shatters right there in front of me. Tears fall down his cheeks.

"Betty," he mumbles in a cracked voice.

I open my arms to him and he stands up, falling into me. I feel his body shake as he puts his head on my shoulder. I hold the weight of my best friend up, feeling like I might be crushed under it. But this is what he needs.

"I'm so sorry, Archie," I say in his ear.

"I didn't do it. I didn't do it. I didn't kill anyone," he says as that familiar panic now hits his chest instead of mine. But Jug was right, panicking is not going to help Archie. It is just going to hurt the person feeling it.

"I know. We all know that. Everyone said that they know you didn't do it. You didn't do anything. We are going to get you out of here," I assure.

He doesn't say anything. He lets me hug him for several minutes. We are standing together, holding each other like the friends that we are. I missed being there for him. But now, he needs me to be. His body is shaking and sobbing, so scared and probably partially embarrassed, being accused of something so terrible that I know he would never do. But he is scared that other people might think he did it.

"What do I do, Betty?" he asks, looking down at me, wiping his face off with the back of his hand. Unlike with Veronica or Jughead, I have seen him cry before, even over stupid stuff. I have seen him through his bedroom window for years. We know each other like no one else does.

"You tell the truth. You ask for a lawyer and you listen to that person. We already called your mom. She's on her way here. You keep calm and you answer the questions you know," I tell him.

He shakes his head, looking fearful and worried. I watch as he breathes heavily, trying to remember how to be normal again. I know that feeling well. I had Jug to help me get rid of it. He had no one for an hour while he felt it.

"Where's Ronnie?" he asks.

"She's outside talking on the phone with her dad," I tell him. "But we're all here, Archie."

"Jughead?"

"He's here too. Your dad, Jughead, Ronnie, FP. Your mom is on her way. They are all here, Archie. You aren't alone," I promise.

He nods, standing before me as vulnerable as one person might be able to become. His head is tilted, his eyes are watery, his face is sad, his body is shaking. Everything about him is under stress.

"I was so scared, Betty," he admits.

"I know. The questioning…it wasn't fair. You had every right to be scared. But it's over for right now. We're gonna get you through this. All of us."

He nods.

But he looks scared again. Scared enough for me to try to help him. I lean forward and open my arms. I fall into him letting our arms fall around each other. We hug for several more minutes as he tries to calm himself. I can hear his heart beating. I can feel his thundering pulse against my own chest.

"We're gonna get you through this," I promise. "We are all going to get through this. It's alright."

"Thank you, Betty," he whispers.

"Don't thank me. That's what friends are for."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

 **Jughead**

Though Archie's life has come to a complete halt, the rest of our lives are almost entirely the same. Yes, we try to help him and we attempt to be there for him as he is questioned and held in a cell. But life outside does go on. It has been several days now and we have an event to attend.

I lean back on my elbows, waiting for everyone to gather by the lake. While most of the teenagers are here, everyone is wondering why. I sort of haven't told anyone the reason that we are gathering here to have this party. I take another swig of soda as watch my serpents talk, mingle and laugh with each other. I find it amusing but also reassuring. I like to think that I am leading people to work together. So far, everything has been alright. But it has only been two weeks of having me in charge. Nothing has gone wrong yet.

"Hey, Jug!" Toni shouts.

"What's up?" I ask.

"You found Hotdog yet?" she asks, sitting down beside me on the bench. I roll my eyes when I look over at her.

"If I had, don't you think he would be out here with us?" I ask her. She rolls her eyes back at me and hands me some popcorn. I take it from her, popping some into my mouth as watch the scene unfold in front of me.

"What's with the major sarcasm, Jones?" she asks.

"Nothing."

"What's all this for?" she asks. Cheryl walks over and puts her hands on Toni's shoulders. They look at each other so I think about getting up. But then Cheryl looks right at me to make me look back at her.

"Yeah, Jughead. What has us all up here, looking around at each other? I'm waiting for you to make some kind of announcement, right?" Cheryl asks.

"Yeah. Yeah. All in good time, my red headed serpent," I tell her.

It is just minutes later when I see her. She walks from behind the tents. My Betty. She has on black shorts, netting for tights, black boots, red crop top that shows that perfect figure of hers. Her blonde hair is curled around her shoulders. Her face is covered in a gleam of dark eye make-up and red lip stick.

"That's why we're here," I say with a smile.

I stand up and go back into my trailer. I grab the jacket and walk back out, holding it folded in my hands. I meet Betty before the large piece of wood we set up for a stage-like presence. I pull her into my arms and kiss her perfect lips.

I lean close to her ear.

"Maybe you'll have to punish me with this later," I whisper.

She giggles, which almost makes me laugh. But I like it when she wears that stuff sometimes. It's fun.

"You'll definitely have to rip it off," she assures.

"Alright, let's go do this so we can do everything else we want to be doing," I say with a smile. She smiles back and follow me to the stage. Everyone is talking, laughing and chattering. I spot my dad give me an approving look. He nods just once, looking right at me. This is the right thing to do.

"Everyone, listen up!" I shout.

People quiet down when they hear their king talking. Everyone looks to me, finally getting the answer to the question they have been asking me all day. I am shaking with excitement. I have wanted to tell them for a long time. I have wanted to see her standing beside me like she is about to. Here we go.

"Alright. You all wanted to know why I called this meeting," I say. "It's for a good reason. I promised you that the serpents would not die out on my watch. I initiated Cheryl just two weeks ago. Now it's someone else's turn. I am your king, but like all great legends…men are not entirely sane and stable without their women."

They are starting to get it. I hold my hand out to Betty. She steps up, standing right beside me.

"This is your Serpent Queen," I say.

I hold out the jacket and help slip it into her slender body. She flips it onto her back and then brushes her hair from her shoulders. Betty Cooper wearing a serpent jacket. Not just being a serpent. She is the queen.

Everyone claps, especially the proud man standing beside her. I hold my hand out so that they have to stop.

"There's a lot going on around us," I say. "But we are united! We are stronger than ever! Now you have not just one, but two leaders! Yes, I am your king, but this is your queen. You will take orders from her just like you do from me. She will earn your trust and you will have to earn hers."

I look to my Betty and hold out my hand. She takes it, squeezing my fingers gently. I look right into her eyes with a smile so big that I can't get rid of it. I can't remember how to feel anything other than passion for this moment.

"Betty Cooper, what is the last serpent law?" I ask her.

"In unity there is strength!" she shouts.

I can't help but let the smile come across my face. I give her a confident expression and swe all look to our new queen.

"In unity there is strength!" we all shout after her.

"Welcome to the gang, Betty."

"Kiss your queen!" my dad shouts. I turn to him with a smile on my face. I'm surprised but maybe he is right. We're united.

I grab Betty from her back and hold her around her waist. I dip her on the stage and kiss her, mashing my lips against hers for several seconds before I lift her back up to allow her to stand again.

I hold our conjoined hands up before the serpents. We practically thrive off of the shouts and screams that come from our supporting people.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

 **Jughead**

Once everyone has dispersed and the party is over, my dad comes over to me and shakes my hand, looking to Betty. He looks at us in complete disbelief. But there is an elation to his expression that reassures me.

"Congrats, Betty," he says and then turns to me. "And to you. You've got yourself a good queen."

"Yes, I do," I agree.

"You coming back to the trailer?" FP asks.

I look to Betty. She bites her bright red lip and tilts her eyes down. That is a familiar expression to me. I know exactly what she wants. I shake my head to my dad, moving a little closer to my queen.

"Not tonight," I say.

FP nods and then hits my shoulder, walking away.

"Be safe!" he shouts. I roll my eyes and turn to Betty.

"Where do you want to go?" I ask.

"We could stay by the fire," she says, resting her hands on my arms. I look down at her body, wanting her even more than I thought I could. She leans close to me, pressing her body close to mine.

"There are tents around," I say.

She looks to them way over by my trailer. I nod. She's right. They are way too close to us. I have a better idea anyway. I pick up my pack from the ground. I grab her hand and pull her around the water over to a small bridge. She follows me, confused but also laughing. She follows me, walking over the bridge to the other side of the woods.

"Where are we going?" she asks.

I drop the pack and open it up, pulling out my sleeping bag and pillow. She smiles as she watches me.

"Right here," I assure her. "We're not far from our people but they can't see us and we can barely see them. We're safe and we can be alone all night. What do you think?"

She starts helping me unpack the bag, spreading the sleeping back completely open so that we have something to lay on instead of something to sleep inside of. I throw the small pillow down onto the flat, fluffy fake bedding. I turn around to look at my queen, putting my hands on her waist.

"What are you doing?" she asks with a smile.

"I was thinking I would start with taking your clothes off and then see where it goes from there…" I say.

"Funny, I was thinking the same thing about you," she says.

I put my hands inside her jacket and push it off of her shoulders, laying it down on the ground. Our lips mash each other as she takes my jacket off. Kissing goes on for several long beautiful minutes before I put my hands under her shirt.

She gets the idea. She lets me pull it over her head. I put my arms around her, pressing her breasts into my chest. Our lips mangle. I trace them down her neck as I unbutton her pants, kissing over her chest and between either side of that light pink bra, down her stomach to her shorts. I pull them off and she steps out of them. I have to peel the tights from her body. I can hear her heavy breathing as I do this. She lets me pull them off and kiss back up her thigh, getting higher until I am right where she wants me.

Betty grabs my hat and pulls it off, returning her hand to my head as she pulls my hair. I kneel between her legs as I kiss and move on her. The grip on my hair tightens as I move faster. Then I stop and kiss back up her stomach, reaching around to unhook her bra. She lets it fall between us.

"This isn't fair," she says.

I am taken back but when I look at her face, I realize that she is happy. She is smirking at me with a sense of confidence that makes me want to throw her down on the blanket and push into her.

"No, I guess not," I agree, pulling my shirt over my head to discard it. Betty kisses my neck as she unbuttons my pants and pushes them down my hips. I let her do this. I had almost forgotten how badly I need her.

Her lips trace down my neck and chest before she is kneeling in front of me. I know exactly what she is going to do. Get back at me for the same thing I did to her. Then her mouth is on me and my head falls back. I let my hand grip her hair tight, trying not to pull but it's hard to remember how to control my muscles.

It is just seconds before she has me hot and needing her. I pull her up to standing and wrap my arms around her body. I make her look at me, keeping her close and grinding against her body.

"Why'd you stop me?" she asks.

"I thought you wanted to have sex," I say with a smirk.

She nods.

"If you keep going, we won't be able to," I tell her.

She smiles, thinking that she can keep her flushing face from me but I see it. I see those bright red cheeks. I happen to think it's sweet. I take her hands in mine and lead her down to the sleeping bag that we have set out. I lay her down underneath of me and kiss her neck. It is just seconds before she is leaning her body into mine.

"Please," she says.

"Please what?"

"Make love to me, Juggie," she begs.

I nod and lean down on her body, finally making us one. We kiss and I lose myself in her heat, her beauty and her body. She loses herself in my touch. Every kiss, every bite, every time I can feel her need me and I pull her hair, we are lost.

"Jughead!" she shouts.

Good thing we aren't near anyone.

"Jug, please," she says, wrapping her legs around my waist. I dig my hand into her hair as she arches into my body.

"I'm close," she says.

"I know."

I can feel it.

I am starting to lose it too but I want to watch her first. I beg myself for control as I moan into her ear. That is enough for her to arch her back and scream my name. She looks right into my eyes as I make my queen feel a level of pleasure that only I can give to her. Watching her blonde hair fly around her head and her eyes roll back makes my entire body throb to be closer to her. I can't stand it anymore.

"Betty," I moan.

"Let me feel you, Jug," she says in my ear.

That is all it takes before I am losing my rhythm and moaning in her ear, falling all over my counterpart.

I lay on top of her perfect body. I try to move but she puts her arms around me, letting me stay. I decide that staying is best anyway. I want to be close to her. This moment is the most safe and perfect any moment could be. Tomorrow, we will have to return to the problems of the world. But right now, in this moment we are nothing but perfect.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

 **Betty**

I wake up with the world's best idea. We should go to that swimming hole we used to when we were kids. I roll over onto Jughead's bare chest and stretch my arms out. I kiss his nose and then his cheeks then his lips and over to his neck. He wakes up slowly and then all at once, opening his eyes and looking confused.

"Betty?" he asks.

"I have an idea."

"I hope it involves riding me," he says with a smile.

I smile back and then grab his hand in mine, making him look at my face instead of other places of my body.

"The trial starts tomorrow. We have to be there. Veronica is with Archie all day. We don't have any Serpent duties today."

"Even more reasons for you to get on top of me," he says with a smile, leaning down and trying to kiss me. I kiss him back for a few seconds, letting him grab me around my back and squeeze my waist.

I pull away to make him focus.

"Remember that swimming hole we went to when we were kids?" I ask.

He nods.

"What about it?"

"We should go there. It's hot and sweaty and it would be nice to be under the water for a while. Maybe you could get that morning glory wish you've been trying for since you woke up," I tell him with a smile. Jug gets up as if this was the most important thing that I had said to him for days. He throws his clothes on swiftly. I try to do the same, not able to catch up with him. I slip my feet into my shoes and then attempt to brush my hair as he watches me. he stands with his hands on his hips and that perfect smile on his face. I know what he is trying to do. I smile back at him while I do this.

"What?" I finally ask.

"You were the one rushing me to go and now you're taking forever," he says. "Why are you even bothering doing your hair? We're going swimming. It's just going to get messed up when I'm making love to you in the water."

I have to laugh at that. I drop the brush and grab his hand, leaning on his body as I look up at his perfect face.

"Should we feel bad, Jug?" I ask.

"About being happy when Archie is basically in hell and Veronica is doing nothing but cry over him?" he asks.

I just nod.

"No. You've been helping them with the case every chance you can. But when it comes down to the end, either he is going away or he isn't. We are not going to jail. Our lives are going to continue on without him if he goes away." That hurts but I try to focus. I know that he doesn't want it to happen just as much as I do. I just wish that I could do more. Archie has been so scared lately. And there is nothing I can do about it. I have been trying to help but it might not matter.

"No, Bets," he says, taking my hands in his because he can tell that I am worried about all of it. "We should find some time to enjoy our lives. We have to. No matter what happens, we are going to school in a few months. We are going to lead the Serpents. We are probably going to have to avoid a gang war. We are going to graduate. We have to do this with or without Archie, Betty."

"That's terrible," I say, feeling bad about myself for even wanting a life without him. we have been nothing but each other's best friends for so long. Is it even okay to go on without him? Will the universe let me?

"It is. But it's the truth."

"I know you're right."

He grabs my hand and pulls me along, stopping at the front door to grab our helmets. He tosses mine over and I catch it, putting it on as we walk outside. I hop onto the back of his motorcycle and wrap my arms around him as he starts it.

"We'll be fine," he assures. "Let's attempt to be teenagers for the day."

I agree as we start riding.

The drive is beautiful but the best part is wrapping my arms around Juggie and feeling his muscles clench as he drives. I occasionally rest my head on him, watching the trees move past us. His body constantly aware that I am with him, holding onto him like my life line. As we ride I am thrust into thought that would otherwise leave me. So many people are affected by the justice system every day. So many people are lost to it. And yet here I am, riding a motorcycle with my boyfriend to our childhood swimming hole.

He was right. Life will go on for us no matter what happens to Archie. In a way, that sucks. I almost wish that I was more affected. Maybe then I would have a better idea of how the hell to help him. But I don't want to give up this freedom. I want to be right here with him. He promised me that we would focus on being together now. Maybe that should mean focusing on each other more than anything else.

I just wish I could get Archie's case out of my head.

When we finally arrive, he parks just above the swimming hole and holds my hand as he guides me to the bottom.

I watch Jug set his helmet down and take off his jacket and shoes. He is almost fully aware that I am staring by the time he takes his shirt and pants off.

"Am I swimming by myself?" he asks.

"No," I say with a smile.

I begin hurrying to take my clothes off, throwing them on the rocks and stumbling over myself. I can hear my heartbeat and feel the adrenaline as he steps out of his jeans. He jumps over his pants and then stops at the edge of the water. He looks back to me and I run past him, jumping into the water and letting myself be soaked with the cool water. I hear another splash after me. I turn around to find him swimming toward me, soaking wet and reaching his arms out to me. I swim into them, wrapping my legs around his body and kissing him on the lips in perfect bliss.

After a few minutes of long kissing, he looks into my eyes and smiles. But there is something serious behind that expression.

"What?" I ask.

"No matter what happens to anyone else this summer, hell, even the rest of the year, I want you to trust me," he says.

I nod.

"Don't keep anything from me. We're leaders now. That means we have to work together."

"You're right," I agree. "I promise, Jug."

He leans close to kiss me a few more times.

"Now love me, Jug," I ask.

"You don't have to tell me twice," he says with a smile as he pushes my underwear out of his way.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

 **Betty**

I find Veronica sitting outside of the court room. She has tears on her face already. I run over to her in my two-inch heels and wrap my arms around her body. She lets me hug her. I can already feel her sadness as she leans on me. I lean back and try to adjust my pink dress so that it flows on my body. She looks over at me with sadness.

"What?" I ask.

"You look nice," she says.

"Thanks."

"You've been alright. Not dying of emotional conflict?" she asks. I nod. I don't want to tell her that I had the best day ever with Jughead yesterday. I also don't want to tell her that I sort of ride a motorcycle and joined the Serpents. I don't think she'd care but it's just another thing that Veronica would have to wrap her mind around. She is busy with Archie's case and she's scared. I am not going to let her be scared about one more thing.

"Everything's fine with me, Veronica," I assure.

She nods.

"Come on," I tell her, pulling her into the lobby. She follows with her hand in mine. We stop, standing in the middle surrounded by unnamed people with confused faces. I hate this. So many people who are willing to hurt Archie because they don't know anything about him. Not the way we do.

"Jughead's here, Betty," she says. I turn around and see him walking into the doors. He is looking around the room but when his eyes fall on me, he gives a visible sigh and reaches his hand to me as he walks. I take his hand and kiss him gently.

"This is already stressful and the trial hasn't even started yet," he whispers.

"I know," I agree. I can feel his hands shaking. I look down at them at the same time he does. He stuffs them both in his pockets when he realizes that I noticed. I grab onto his arms and make him look at me.

"What's wrong?" I ask.

He shakes his head and gives me that smile that shows he wants to be strong for us. I fix his overalls and then adjust his hat on his head. He leans closer to me, almost as if I am helping him calm down.

"There are a lot of people here," he says.

I nod. They're making him nervous. The people. The court. The situation.

"Have you ever been to court before?" I ask.

He nods.

"Jug, come on," I say. "What happened to talking about everything? Didn't we promise that just yesterday?"

"I was at court when my dad was accused of child neglect. You know that day in 7th grade that I came to school in shorts and a tee shirt and it was snowing?"

"Yeah. Archie and I were so worried about you."

"Worried enough that a teacher noticed and called my father. When he was rude to her on the phone, child services paid a visit to my house. They realized that I was living in hell. My sister was naked on the floor, crying when they came. They gave our parents a week to clean it up and fix everything. But when they didn't, we had to go to court."

"Oh, Jug," I say, putting my hands on his chest. He shrugs but I can tell that this memory still haunts him. He remembers every detail and it scares him being back in a place that often takes so much from his family.

"You just have to remember that no matter what happens, we are going to be okay," I promise. "We are going to walk out of here together the same way that we walked in. Just remember that, right?"

He smiles and wraps his arm around me.

"You are an enigma, Serpent Queen," he says as we walk over to Veronica. But it's too late. She heard it. She turns around with her hands dropped at her sides and an expression that shows some fear and a lot of shock.

"Veronica, I was going to tell you," I tell her before she looks angry and then wipes her hand under her eyes. I step forward, out of Jug's grasp and then try to grab her hands but she pulls away from me.

"That's dangerous, Betty!" she shouts. "Jug was almost killed just a few weeks away. He was beaten so bad, he still has bruises on his arm!"

"I know. I know," I state, trying to console her again but she is not having it. She grabs my arm and starts flipping it around. She turns me around as I ask her what she is doing and why. I get no answer until she finally looks at my face.

"Where's your tattoo?" she asks.

"I don't have one yet."

"Do you drive a motorcycle?"

I nod.

"Did you drive it here?"

"Yes…but Veronica, I swear it's not that bad. We know what we are doing and two is better than one. Jug and I work together. Neither of us are alone in this."

She grabs my hands and makes me look at her. I so did not want to worry her more before this trial.

"This is dangerous, Betty. The Serpents are dangerous and are easily manipulated. They are low-class people. You aren't. I'm sorry, Jug, I am not trying to offend you. But the Serpents are no place for someone like you."

I take a deep breath and pull my hands away slowly.

"I didn't mean for you to find out before the trial but I am not changing my mind, Ronnie. The Serpents listen to me. I am their leader too. They count on me to make good decisions, to fight with them if I need to and support them no matter what. I can do that for Jughead and I can do it for Sweat Pea, Toni, Fangs, and Cheryl. It doesn't—"

"Whoa. Whoa. Wait. Cheryl is a serpent?" she asks.

I nod.

She throws her hands in the air and her face looks as if she is in anguish. I look to Jug but he is sympathetic. I know he didn't mean to give it all away. I slip my hand in his. His fingers are shaking even worse now. A very tall man in a nice grey suit comes out of the double doors and opens them both. We all look to him.

"Please enter the court room. We will begin shortly."


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

 **Jughead**

I hate court. I hate trials too. They are all so intimidating. People we don't know deciding the fate of a case they know nothing about because let's face it, there is one living person in the entire world that knows whether Archie did it or not. And that is Archie. But that trial doesn't care about that. Just like the old saying. The sword doesn't care about innocence; it just cuts. That will be true for Archie.

Betty notices my inability to sit still or allow myself to breathe without gasping. She grabs my hand in the second half of the trial. I squeeze her fingers constantly, never quite able to grasp the fact that I am walking out of here unscathed.

"Jughead?" I hear her whisper beside me. I turn to her.

"Calm down," she mouths without sound.

I nod.

"We call Archie Andrews to the stand," the blonde female says as she stands from her chair. As Archie enters and is sworn to tell nothing but the truth, he sits forward in his seat by the judge. Being cross examined is terrifying. I know. I can remember it.

" _Jughead Jones, how did you get that bruise?" the mean man in the dark suit asks me. he has already asked me about that bruise. I told him I don't have a bruise. But they brought up a picture of one on that big screen. That bruise was from a long time ago. How did they even get a picture of it?_

" _I told you, I don't remember."_

" _That's alright," he says, as if that is going to soothe me enough to calm me down. But they are not getting rid of this anger._

" _You mentioned that your father is angry when he is drunk?" he asks. "How often does he get drunk?"_

" _I don't know. I don't remember."_

" _Objection!"_

"Mr. Andrews, why were you at the lake house that morning?" she asks. I swallow hard and loosen my grip on Betty's fingers. I realize that I was squeezing her way too tight. I rest my hand gently on hers. She looks concerned with wide eyes and a scared expression. I shake my head at her and then turn back to Archie. He is looking at us, not at the woman in front of him. I look to my right, following his eyes and then realize that he is looking right at Veronica. It almost makes me smile.

"I was there to enjoy a weekend away," he says.

"Who were you with?"

"Veronica Lodge, Jughead Jones and Betty Cooper," he says.

"And where did you stay?"

"The lake house," he says, looking confused.

"The room. Who stayed with you in the room you were in?"

"Judge. Objection. That is not a relevant question," his mother says, standing up. The judge looks to her with boredom and then back to the prosecution. Archie is staring at him but he looks to the lawyer.

"You can answer," the judge says simply.

"Veronica Lodge," he says.

"And the other two? Were they in the same room together?"

"Objection! That's not relevant!"

" _What about your sister? She seemed awfully upset when we arrived to your house. Does Jellybean cry a lot?"_

" _I guess so. She's little. She cries because she's young," I admit, shrugging and then looking to my dad. But he won't meet my eyes. He has his eyes on the desk in front of him. His hands are shaking like they always do. It scares me. Am I saying something wrong? Did I do something wrong?_

" _Does your mom cry a lot?" she asks._

" _Only when they fight."_

" _When who fights, Jughead?"_

" _My parents."_

" _What do they fight about?_

 _I try to remember but I never really know. I can't understand what they are saying. I can only understand the pain in their voices. I grab Jellybean and bring her to the back room. When we still hear it, I tell her stories so that she can go to sleep. Then I listen to them until it stops. Finally, when it's all over I can fall asleep too._

" _I don't know. I don't understand it."_

" _That's alright, Jughead," she says. "We just want to make sure that you are safe in that house. We saw that bruise and thought that maybe something had happened. Do you remember anyone ever hitting you before?"_

" _A kid at school," I say with a nod._

" _What kid?"_

" _Jason."_

" _Why did Jason hit you?" she asks._

" _Because I made fun of his sister."_

" _We're off track, your Honor," someone else says._

"Mr. Andrews. Could you tell me what exactly you did that morning?" she asks. "Walk me through it from the beginning."

"I woke up around six. Veronica was still sleeping so I got my shoes and left the room quietly. There was no one else in the house so I assumed that Betty and Jug were still asleep. I grabbed the axe and went out to the trees to chop firewood. I did that until I got a text that asked me to come meet Mr. Lodge's transportation guy."

I almost laugh. He is still a teenager with a teens' vocabulary. He is trying his best but he is angry that his entire thing happened at all. It doesn't make sense. Why would anyone think that he killed Cassidy? I don't understand it.

"You spoke to him and then what?" she asks.

"Veronica saw us and we had a disagreement about whether I should have told her that he stuck around to watch us or not," he admits. He looks right at Veronica. She gives him a small, encouraging expression.

"Veronica then left to go out with Betty and you stayed back with Jughead. The rest of the day was unremarkable, would you agree?"

"I suppose so."

"Let's talk about that night. What were Jughead and Betty disagreeing with you about?" she asks.

"Mr. Lodge bought the register. Betty's dad owns it. They thought that it was because he was trying to silence the free press. They were arguing with us about it."

"Did it ever get physical?" she asks. He looks confused. I sit forward in my chair, resting my elbows on my knees. I can feel Betty's calming hand on my back. I want to thank her but know that I can't talk.

"No. Of course not."

"You had never gotten physical in a negative way with any of the three other members in that household?"

The judge sits forward. "Be more specific," he says.

"Have you ever in your life gotten in a physical altercation with either Jughead, Betty or Veronica."

"No," he says, almost offended. He is trying hard not to be.

"Not even just something small? I mean, you crushed on the girl that he is now dating. Is that not reason to fight with him?"

"Jughead and I have wrestled around but never fought each other," he says again.

She nods.

"So you could be violent with another person that you are close to?" she asks.

"No!"

"But is this not you on this video where you cut Jughead from his shackles as he attempts to peacefully protest the demolishing of his very own school?"

"Yes, that was me," he says. "But we weren't physical."

"Really?" she asks, stepping forward and then turns to the screen. The video begins and we all watch thirty seconds of Archie cutting me from my chains and then shoving me out through the crowd.

"You wouldn't call that pushing your best friend out into the crowd after you just cut him from peacefully protesting?" she clarifies.

"I shoved him. I wasn't—"

"Did you push him?"

Archie turns to his mother then to me. I find fear in his eyes but there is nothing I can do. He hurt me that day. He was supposed to be my best friend and he decided to take me from the one thing that I had then he pushed me for good measure.

" _Answer the question."_

" _I don't understand," I say again, feeling like I might get upset at any second. I am begging my chest to stay stable and my eyes to stay without water. But the fear is not making either task easy._

" _Do you feel tired, Jughead?"_

" _Yes."_

" _Your teachers say that you are tired a lot. Is there some reason you can't get enough sleep at home?" she asks._

" _No. I sleep."_

" _Your friend Betty says that you fall asleep in class a lot. You and her are close friends?"_

" _Yes."_

" _Would she lie?"_

" _No."_

" _Why do you fall asleep in class?"_

" _I get tired."_

 _I feel tears fall on my cheeks as she asks the next question. I look to my mom, begging for her to stop this but she does nothing. She looks down at her hands, as if ignoring me completely. It scares me but I continue._

"Yes, I pushed Jughead…my best friend," he says. "And I shouldn't have. But Mr. Lodge wanted me to do it and I wanted to please him. I didn't understand Jug's cause and I did the wrong thing. For that, I'm sorry, Jug."

I nod toward him since I can't talk but he is looking right at me. I don't know why he did that. But it scares me. I hadn't even thought about it for a while. I was over that a long time ago. He did make a stupid decision but everyone does.

The judge taps his mallet and everyone looks to him.

"We are going to take a thirty-minute recess."

I turn to Betty, resting my head on her shoulder as I try not to squeeze hard enough to break her fingers in my hand.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight**

 **Jughead**

Thirty minutes was not long enough for me to regain my sanity. But before we know it, we are back in the room where the devils and the angels argue over Eden. No one wins and the argument rolls on.

"What was the first sign that something was out of place or wrong?" she asks, placing her hands together as she walks.

"The sound of something breaking and footsteps."

"Who was the first to notice?"

"We all were in the same room. Jughead asked _What was that_. I said, _who else knows we're here_. And then Betty asked me _Why did you say it like that._ I never answered her."

"What happened after that?"

"Cassidy was wearing a mask but Veronica told me that she knew it was him. There were two other heavy-set guys with him. They walked in and started demanding money. Cassidy was clearly the angry one."

She nods.

"What did he end up ordering Veronica to do?" she asks.

"He told her to go into the bedroom to get her wallet. He wanted money." His voice is shaking and his body seems afraid. I try my best to avoid looking at him. Even see him reminds me of how scared I was on that stand.

I try myself to focus on something else. Betty's chest rises and falls slowly. She is looking down at her feet. She crosses her hands over her knee and then adjust the way she is sitting. She shakes her leg and then moves again. I try to lean over to get her attention but I can't talk so it makes it difficult. I put my hand on hers. She takes it but doesn't look at my face at all. I kiss her cheek and she looks at me with surprise.

"Moving on," the judge says. "Defendants, who do you call to the stand?"

"We call Cheryl Blossom to the stand."

I watch as my Serpent counterpart walks to the stand and is sworn in. She doesn't appear nervous. Then again, it is a rare sight so see her with any kind of nerves. She sits down with her hands on the stand in front of her as Mary stands up and begins her questioning. I am not worried about her. She is on her side.

"We know that Veronica Lodge received a text from you. When she realized that you were at Sweet Water River, the four of them made their way to you. Who was the first one on the ice?" she asks.

"Archie."

"Do you remember who found you under the water?"

"No. I was told it was Archie who punched through the ice to get to me. It was very thick ice. I saw his hand later. We all did. It was clearly red and injured from punching through it," she explains.

"What do you remember about the incident?"

"I woke up for a second and Archie was there. He was hovering above me. He had to give me CPR to bring me back. Then I remember feeling him carrying me. I felt his heartbeat and his warmth, also how he held me as we walked all the way back across the river and through the woods to his car."

"So, after Archie broke his hand breaking you out of the ice, he then carried your limp body across the river and through the woods, almost a mile?" Mary asks.

"Yes. I owe him my life."

"Thank you. That's all."

" _Does that mean we get to go home now, Mommy?" I ask, tugging on the end of her shirt. She grabs my hand. Her face is sweet and gentle but I can tell that she is about to lie to me. She is scared._

" _Not yet, Jughead," she says._

" _Why not?"_

" _They wanted to ask me some questions. You can wait outside in the lobby with Mrs. Cooper and Betty."_

" _They're here?" I ask._

 _She nods, leading me toward the lobby. I follow but try my hardest to stay as strong as I can. They don't want anything from me. But I am not stupid. I know that they want something from my family. Being ten, they can say that I am too young to be a part of a lot of this. But I understand it more than they think._

 _Finally, she talks quietly to Mrs. Cooper. But I don't pay attention. I find Polly and Betty sitting on a bench not far from their parents. They are talking quietly and laughing. I want to walk over there. I want to talk to someone that might feel normal but I can't. I'm too scared to go over there while Polly is there too._

 _Instead, I sit down on the bench furthest from any breathing soul and curl my legs close to my body. I rest my head on my arms and close my eyes. It is not long before I feel a hand on me. I am sure it is someone trying to bother me. But then it's her._

 _Betty._

" _You okay?" she asks._

 _I shake my head._

" _I wish I could say I understood," she admits. "Maybe you can tell me?"_

 _I shake my head again, not trusting my voice. Even though Betty is my best friend, I don't think that a girl should see me cry. Not a Jones. Us Jones men should be too strong for tears, even now._

 _She sits right next to me and puts her arm around my shoulder. I can feel her leaning on me just a little._

" _They're trying to take my family away, Betty," I admit._

" _I know. I'm so sorry."_

" _Did they question you?"_

 _I nod again._

" _That must have been so scary."_

 _I agree. I don't want to admit that it was scary but I lean on her anyway. Maybe she will understand that it was. I feel a few tears on my face. I wipe them away but there is a surprising smile on hers._

" _Jughead," she says in a quiet voice._

"Jughead."

"Jughead!"

I turn my head to Betty sitting beside me. She raises her eyebrows. I feel fear hit my chest so hard I feel like I am ten years old again. I lean down and look at her. She is staring at me and then gestures toward the judge.

"What?" I whisper.

"Forsythe Pendleton Jones III, you have been called to the stand to be cross examined by the state."


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine**

 **Betty**

I have seen Jughead scared before. I have seen him scared a lot of times. But I did not want to see him scared up on that stand. I remember how he cried last time. I held him outside the court room until his mother came out and told him that it was going to be okay. Later we learned that both of his parents were allotted four months of probation. They passed with flying colors, or by bribing their probation officers. I am never really sure.

But now my Jug is sitting up on that stand with his hands together. I see him adjust his hat or shake his leg. To others he might just look like an annoyed teenager. But to Archie, Ronnie and I, he is scared and we all know it.

The lady in the tight women's grey suit, stands right in front of him. He is looking around her, trying to find my eyes without being noticed. After a few times of being jittery, I finally catch his eyes. They are wide and scared. His mouth is in an open expression, as it so often is when he doesn't know what to do.

"It's okay," I mouth to him.

I hope so much that he sees it as the women blocks me from his view again. I can see his panic begin but then he is shaking as she begins her questions.

"Forsythe—" she starts.

"Jughead," he corrects. "They have been saying Jughead this entire time. You know that my name is Jughead."

"Jughead," she says with anger. It is obvious to everyone that he is annoyed now. But no one knows that he is doing that because he doesn't want to be up there. They are going to try to confuse him. That is the part that will really hurt him. When this is all over, I will be the one to remind him that he is doing everything he can to help and that none of this is his fault. I try to find his eyes again but she is blocking me.

"Is it true that Archie Andrews is your best friend?" she asks.

"Yes." There is no wavering in his voice. It is an easy answer.

"Is it also true that Archie cut you from your chains when you were trying to peacefully protest the demolition of your own school?" she asks.

"Yes, but he was being manipulated," he says. I want to tell him not to do that. I want to tell him to just answer the question.

"By whom?"

"Hyrum Lodge."

"What proof do you have of this?" she asks.

I can hear him sigh. His voice is starting to waver just enough that I am the only one that can tell.

"Nothing. I watched it happen. So, did Betty and Veronica and his parents and the bulldogs. We all knew it was happening but none of us could convince him to stop."

"Moving on," she says, placing her hands together. "Are you a member of the South Side Serpents?"

"Yes."

"Is it true that Archie went on a vendetta, creating militia groups for the purpose of threatening and destroying the south side?"

"Yes; but I wasn't a serpent then."

"Was he aware that your father was also a serpent when he did this?"

"Yes."

Jughead catches my eyes. They are scared and worried. He knows that what they are asking him is not fair anyway. But of course, that doesn't matter. To Juggie, every answer that they use against him is his fault.

"Is it true that Archie once got in a physical fight with the Serpents?"

"To my knowledge," he says with a shrug. I can see his expression. It is hardened against her. I know that the moment we are alone, those walls will crumble and I will be left with the real Jug.

"What do you mean?" she asks.

"Well, I wasn't there."

"Are you their so-called leader?"

"Right now, yes. But at the time of that incident, I wasn't even a Serpent a yet," he explains. I watch the jury faces. They seem to be listening to him. a few of them look amused that he is on the stand, almost as if this is not what they expected to come from him. I wonder if some of the more logical ones will be swayed in one direction.

"But you were a friend to the serpents?" she demands.

"I guess you could say that."

I know that Jug joined the serpents almost right after that fight. It had not been long. But they don't need to know that.

"Would you trust Archie Andrews alone in a car with your girlfriend?" she asks. I sit back in my chair, catching his eyes. They are just as confused and filled with hate and concern that mine are.

"What?" he asks.

"Rephrase the question," the judge says.

"Would you trust that Archie would be a perfect gentleman alone in a car with Betty Cooper, your girlfriend at the time of all of his circles and other violent incidents?" she asks with that smile that makes me want to rip her head off.

Jug looks to me and then to Archie. His eyes rest on the woman in front of him that is so determined to tear us apart. But I will have no part of it. None of us will. Jug sniffles and then sits up straight, leaning closer to the woman.

"Yes, as a matter a fact, I would trust Archie alone with Betty in a dark room for seven nights and seven days. He is my best friend. I wouldn't trust him to just save my own life. I would trust him with something much more important than that. I would trust him to save my girlfriends," he says.

"Have you got what you needed?" the judge asks.

"One more thing," she says, turning to Jug again. He raises his eyebrows, surprised that she dared to ask anything else.

"Do you believe from the evidence given, your time with Mr. Andrews and the moments in which you saw him after the murder, that he could have possibly killed Cassidy Blake?" she asks.

"Without a shadow of doubt, Archie Andrews did not kill Cassidy."

"Done?" the judge asks, almost looking annoyed.

"Yes," she says.

"Allow Mr. Jones off of the stand," he orders.

Jughead makes his way back to me, sure to leave a dirty look with the prosecution on his way by. When he sits back down, he is shaking. I reach over and grab his hand. He looks right into my eyes. I nod to him. I want him to know that he did the right thing. Everything he just did was the right thing.

"Court adjourned for the day. We will meet Monday morning at 9," the judge says.

As soon as we are standing, I turn and grab Jug in my arms, smiling into his shirt when he wraps his arms around me tightly. I can feel him resting his head on my shoulder and finding comfort in my touch.

"You did great, Jug," I promise him.

"I don't know, Bets. Some of those questions were messed up and backwards," he says with worry.

"You did everything you could. Everyone seemed to like your last statement," I tell him. He puts his arm around me as we start walking to the lobby, past the constant crowds of people that stay and talk.

"I hope it was enough," he says.

"It was."

I push the door open to the outside world and we both step out into it. He takes in a long breath and then turns to me, his hands still on my waist.

"I thought that it wouldn't feel like we were still free people," he admits. "But it's kind of terrifying, no matter where Archie goes, we can't change it and we aren't a part of it. We are still going to be out here in the rest of the world."

I nod, pulling on his hand.

"Does the rest of the world have Pop's milkshakes?"

"A chocolate malt for my lady," he says with a smile that is filled with freedom; a freedom that I fear Archie will never see again.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten**

 **Jughead**

"That was basically hell," Archie says, leaning back in our famous booth at Pop's. He runs his hand over his face and then slips out of his jacket. I am glad that I never wore one before. It is way too hot out here.

"Basically. And it's not even close to over," I mumble.

"Jug," Betty warns, leaning into my side.

"I want to have fun. I want to have to a normal summer. That is all I wanted. I mean, why can't we just have a nice summer? Why can't we just hang out and be normal teenagers?" he asks, leaning back in his chair and staring up at the ceiling. Veronica comes over with two milkshakes and sits next to him. He leans his head on his shoulder

"Maybe we can do something halfway normal around the trials," I suggest. Betty squeezes my hand under the table. I squeeze it back, looking to her with a side glance and then deciding that now is not the time to ask about whatever that was.

"Like what? We are working non-stop on this trial. We are never going to have enough time to do anything."

"We're never going to be okay long enough to do anything this summer. Plus, I really should be working here. I have so much to get ready for and so much to do before we open the Speak Easy. I have to keep this place going until then too," Veronica says.

Truthfully, I check out. I am no longer paying attention to anything they are talking about. I am vaguely aware that they are talking about when or how they would be able to have some fun. But I really don't think that there will be any hope for something like that.

"Jug," Archie says. I turn to him, snapping out of my daze of the trial and sitting up on that stand.

"You alright, man?" he asks.

"Yeah, sure," I agree. It sounds stupid but I know that it's fine. I should be fine. I am not the one on trial here. But I can't stop thinking about my dad sitting in the stands as I testified. I can't stop thinking about scared I was that I was going to say or do the wrong thing. It was terrifying. I can still feel it.

"Hey! Jughead!" someone shouts.

I turn to the voice. It's a gang member. One of Sweet Pea's friends. Cherry. He stands over all four of us but only looks at me. He is almost seething with anger. He stands with his arms over his chest. He is around our age, maybe a year older but in our grade. I don't know a lot about him other than he is a Serpent.

"What's wrong?" I ask.

"I just got a threat from one of the Ghoulies!" he shouts.

"What are you talking about? Dude, calm it down," I order him. He doesn't. I can see the anger on his face.

"What the hell is this?" Veronica asks.

"Maybe you should take this somewhere else, man," Archie says.

"You're going to let non-Serpents tell me what to do? What a great king. Thanks, man," he says, shrugging his shoulders and then puffing his chest out. I stand up and look him dead in the eyes.

"Don't talk to me like that," I tell him. "Calm down and just explain it to me from the beginning. Which Ghoulies? Where did it happen? And what the hell actually happened? I need it all."

He looks angry but then adjusts his jacket and puts his hands in his jean shorts pockets. He finally looks to me.

"Three Ghoulies asked me about our new leadership. I told them to back off. I was walking here from the South Side. They stopped at the edge of the bridge but they were harassing me the entire time."

"Harassing you how?" I ask.

"They threatened to hurt me. Then they were asking about you. Finally, I just told them that you were the king and I figured they would back off. They were talking behind me but they weren't talking to me anymore. I thought they would leave me alone."

Cherry leans his face to the side where I see a bright red mark on his temple. I tilt his head, touching it and then realizing how right and bruised around the edges. I feel Betty leaning toward us both.

"Seriously, maybe you two should take this outside," Archie says.

"We're just talking, Archie," I assure. "Where did you get that?"

"Oh this?" he asks and then looks over my shoulder. I turn to see what he is looking at and then I realize. Betty.

"They started asking me if you were the only one in charge or if I was taking orders from someone else now too. They said they heard about a ponytail in a jacket and asked if it was true. I ignored them because we all know that Betty being a serpent would piss Penny off. But Betty being the Queen? Oh, that's gonna give her hell."

"Wait a second. What the hell are you talking about?" Archie demands. "Betty! You're a Serpent?"

I turn around to the both of them and watch as Betty tilts her head down. She looks afraid but not at all ashamed. She tilts her head up and looks right to Archie.

"I'm not just a Serpent, Archie. I'm the Serpent Queen."

He looks bewildered and almost scared for her. I can tell that he is about to start an argument or tell her not to do it or something that she does not want to hear. But I am proud of her. I am so proud of her for standing up for herself but I am also happy that she wanted to stand up for it.

"Yeah and our queen had a giant red target on her back!" Cherry says.

"When I wouldn't tell them, they hit me. Then when they figured it out, they let me go and I told them."

"You told them about Betty being the queen?" I ask.

"We didn't hide it!"

"No. We didn't," I admit. I put my hand on his shoulder. "It's alright. We'll figure this out. Don't go anywhere without another Serpent. That's a new rule. If you have your jacket on, you have to be with someone else."

He nods but then glares behind me. I move away so that I can see exactly what he is staring at. It is Betty. He is still glaring at her with such confusion and remorse that I am starting to get angry with him.

The giant pile of confusion that is this situation is starting to make my head spin.

"Betty, you can't do that. That's so dangerous. Jughead was almost killed! Why did you think that you could join them and not be hurt? They are after you now, Betty. Is that what you wanted?" he asks.

"No, Archie. Don't even—"

"I've got it, Jug," she assures with a small smile. I nod, letting her look right at Archie and stand up for herself.

"I wanted to be a serpent, Arch. I can help them. I can protect Jug and he protects me. I was meant to do this."

"Then wears your tattoo? Most people around here don't even know you're a Serpent," Cherry says. "You act like you're one of us. We have to listen to what you tell us to do. You even stay with Jug. But not even one of your best friends knew you were? Come on, why should I have to listen to you if you aren't proud to be one?"

He is starting to piss me off. I can feel my body start to shake. I have not been in the best mood for anger recently. I don't like people talking about Betty. There is something so strong about it, I am practically crawling in my skin.

"I am," she assures.

"Then where is your tattoo? Where is your jacket? Why aren't you wearing it around the north side? Why are you hiding it from your friends?" he demands. I can't hold back that present anger anymore. I have to attempt to control it but my immediate reaction is hostility, despite what it should be.

"Hey!" I shout, grabbing his collar. "No matter your opinion about her, she is still your queen. You will treat her with respect, Cherry."

He holds his hands up. "I'm just saying, Jug."

"He's right, Juggie," Betty says.

"What?"

I drop his collar and look to her. She is nodding, looking more honest than I could imagine anyone being.

"I don't flaunt it the way I should. I am proud of it and I am not scared. I should get a tattoo," she says.

All I can do is smile. I can't hear the sound of Archie and Veronica arguing or the sound of Cherry telling me about his problems yet again. I give her a smirk and hold out my hand with just one thing to say, "Damn right you should."


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter Eleven**

 **Jughead**

"Are you sure about this?" I ask her.

She turns to me and nods her head. I grab her hand and lead her into the office. A few of the tattoo artists I know are hanging around. One more Serpent is getting another tattoo.

"You look nervous," I mutter to her.

"Just a little," she says. "I want them to trust me."

"I want you to trust them," I admit.

"Well I guess we have to start somewhere, right?"

Just then we are caught and all eyes are on us.

"The King and Queen are in the house!" Two-Tails shouts with a smile. He's a large man with a lot of tattoos a beer gut. But he has been a reliable man for a long time. I reach out my hand to give him a shake. He does the same. I grab Betty around her waist and pull her close to me. I know she is not afraid of them but she needs to learn that she is allowed to feel like she is a part of us. I think that this will really make her feel that way.

It is just for her protection or for her downfall. I want her to truly feel like she is a serpent, like she is family. She has been working non-stop on Archie's case so I can only see her on the weekends or at night and I want every moment to feel right for her. I think that giving her this will allow some of that trust to start growing.

"What can I do for ya?" he asks with a toothless smile. He is missing three of his front teeth and looks ridiculous. But he lost them a long time ago, some in fights and others in fights in jail. I guess everyone has their differences.

"Serpent tattoo," I tell him.

"For you? I can see yours right there, Jug," he says with a smile, slapping the side of my arm where my tattoo remains. The other side is almost all the way healed. The scars have to just fade from now on.

"For Betty," I say with a smile.

"Ah, yes! Of course," he says. "Right this way."

He leads us both to the back of the parlor where he tells her to sit down in one of the chairs. She takes her jacket off and hands it over to me. I set it down on the chair and sit right beside her, holding out my hand. She doesn't take it yet. I wonder if that is for some power reason or because she really thinks that this is not going to hurt.

"Where?" he asks.

She lifts her shorts a little higher to reveal the left side of her left leg. He nods and gets his stencil out. As he does all the pre-planning, I take her hand from her lap and curl it into my own.

"Jughead," she whispers.

"You worried yet?" I ask.

"No. I'm not worried. I know why I should be doing this and I know that it's the right thing," she says but I can tell there is something else going on. I brush my thumb over hand and look to her eyes, begging her to tell me more. I can see a familiar look on her face. It is one of a long-lasted friendship that is unbreakable.

"Archie?" I ask.

"He just seemed so worried about me, Juggie."

I roll my eyes. "He needs to be worried about himself. Don't you trust me to take care of you, Betty? I would never let anything happen to you. Keeping you as a serpent is the smartest thing we could do. The closer you are to me, the safer you are from everyone else out there," I assure her.

"Jug. I did not become a serpent just for you. Sure, I want to keep you safe and make sure you aren't joining the dark side. But I also wanted to be a part of your world. I saw how much loyalty and honor there is in being a member of this gang. Archie thinks that I am being reckless and that I am going to get hurt. I know that he might've been right once. But right now, this is the best thing that I could do."

"Bets, Arch doesn't understand this anyway," I say.

She nods and Two-Tails walks back over with his hand on the tattoo gun. He looks to Betty and then back to me.

"Stencil is on, Betty. Ready?" he asks.

"As I'll ever be," she agrees.

He begins tattooing. I watch as she realizes how much it hurts. She squeezes my hand and I hold her fingers back as she clenches her eyes. I don't want her to be in pain but I know that she wanted this. I even consider telling her to stop it and forget the entire thing but I know she is stronger than that.

Distraction will be the best answer.

"Archie was scared when I joined too. He doesn't understand us at all. That's okay. But he has a lot of other things to worry about. He knows that I am going to keep you safe here," I promise.

"I don't want you to keep me safe, Jug," she says.

"What do you mean?"

Her face scrunches up in pain but then she looks to me with honesty, even threw that layer of uneasiness.

"I want to be their leader in my own right. I want to be a Serpent in my own right. I think that I need to earn that status like everyone else."

"Betty, what are you talking about?" I demand.

"Everyone else did it, Jug. I should have to," she says.

"No. No way. You already did the Serpent dance. You don't have to do it again. That was all you had to do," I say.

I know where she is going with this and I don't like it. I know she wants to earn their trust and I know that she wants to be a real part of this but it will scare me to death if she actually goes through what I did. I don't think I could handle that.

"You want to do the phases?" Two-Tails asks.

"That seems a little redundant, you've helped us since way before you were one of us," I say, trying to convince them both now. He continues with her tattoo as she stares up into my eyes, moving her arms and even digging her fingers into her palms. The second I notice it, I grab her hands and put them in mine.

"Do it to me," I tell her.

She shakes her head.

I give her a pleading expression and she finally nods.

She takes my hands and digs her nails into them as she squeezes.

"You don't have to do all of that," I tell her. "You have done a lot for us. You are one of us, Betty."

She shakes her head.

"Not all of it. The last one. The gauntlet."

"No way. Absolutely not. I am not letting guys three times your size beat you the hell up, Bets," I tell her.

She looks determined. It is that look that scares me. she knows what she wants and Betty Cooper always figures out a way to get whatever it is that she wants. That is a fact that I have always admired. Right not it terrifies me.

"Jughead. Everyone did it except for the other person that is supposed to be leading them. If I am going to make sure that they trust me, I have to earn it too. If I am already creating problems for them, putting a target on all of us. I better have a damn good reason. Plus, I am not some weak puppy, Jug. The serpent queen is a warrior queen and I have to prove it."

I can't help but give her a small smirk.

I won't be able to change her mind.

"Fine, Betty," I say. "But they're not breaking any bones."

She smiles.

"Deal."

Betty Cooper always gets what she wants. I just never thought she would ask for a bunch of serpents to beat her the hell up. I certainly never thought I would have to participate in it.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter Twelve**

 **Jughead**

"Jug, this is a bad idea," Sweat Pea says. "Even I don't want to hit her."

Betty is standing on the other side of the line, stretching her arms and bouncing on her feet. If this were any other time I would think about the perfect curve of her body or how I would like to peel those tight black leggings off of her. But instead she is about to be beat up by a bunch of people I trust. I know Sweet Pea is right. This was a terrible idea but she wanted to do it. I have already told them not to break bones and not to go full on crazy mode like they did with me.

"Jug," Betty calls from the other side.

"What's up?"

"Let's go!"

I nod.

I stand at the end of the two lines. I am supposed to catch her and kiss her. Then she is officially a serpent queen and they'll all trust her. At least, that is what is supposed to happen. I hope it works that way.

"Jug, we are a lot bigger than she is," Sweet Pea says.

"Dude, I'm already scared. Cool it. Just don't hit her hard," I beg.

He nods and then rolls his shoulders back. That guy likes to punch a little too much. Toni is standing as the first person to Betty's right. I am not sure if I like that either. If Betty remembers how I was with her, it should really be her punching Toni. Either way it is time for me to start getting it together and letting them do what they always do. I look out to the crowd that has formed around us. All the serpents want to see this.

"Let's go!" Betty shouts again.

I look to Toni and give her a nod.

Betty steps forward in her all black tight bra and pants. She looks like she is going on a jog. I think about that as the first punch is delivered right into her stomach. She kneels over and holds onto it. She is knocked off of her feet. I lung forward to grab her. this is a bad idea. We shouldn't have done it.

Sweet Pea puts his arm around me and holds me back, making me look at him.

"You have to let her do this on her own, Jug," he says.

I nod, stepping away from the lines again. I watch as my strong, brave Betty stands up and turns to the next person with her shoulders back. He punches her in the side so she is knocked and stumbles on her feet. That's when the other kid hits her back and then Cherry grabs her. He punches her in the chest and she grabs onto it, gasping for breath. I take a step forward but Sweet Pea gives me a look.

Another punch to the chest, the stomach and then someone goes for her face. He punches right across her cheek and she holds onto it, falling onto the grass and gasping. I can hear her moaning with every breath from here.

"Come on, Bets," I beg. I need her to get through this. I need her to keep going or I am going to freak out.

"Come on! Let's go, Betty!" Sweet Pea shouts.

She looks up at his face with her hand still on her cheek. A bit of blood dribbles from her chin. Now I really want to grab her into my arms. I can't believe I am letting this happen to my girlfriend.

"Come on, Betty! Serpent Queen!" Toni shouts.

"Serpent Queen! Serpent Queen! Serpent Queen!" they all shout.

I give her a small smirk. She sees it and manages a nod. She pushes herself to her feet, stumbling but then catching herself upright. She turns to the next person in the line. Fangs punches her in her ribs and then she stumbles to the side where she gets another to her jaw. The next is to her face and then finally she is at the end of the line.

I watch as Sweet Pea hits her under her chin. She falls backwards on the ground with a thud. I reach for her but Sweet Pea puts his arm in my way again. I have to get to her. I have to make sure she is okay.

"Serpent Queen!" Toni shouts again. I remind myself to thank her later for that.

Betty rolls over onto her side and then pushes her shaking arms so that she is kneeling. They all chant again. She manages to get to her feet but I can see her legs wobbling from here. I want to grab her and pull her close to me. I want to save her.

She looks to Sweet Pea and spits blood on the ground.

"You call that a punch?" she asks with a smirk.

I reach out to grab her hand. Sweet Pea drops his arm. This part is all me. She takes it and pull her to my body. I wrap my arms around her waist and I feel her let me hold her up. If I were not holding her, she might actually just fall.

"I love you," she whispers.

I laugh, wiping the blood from her mouth and chin before I lean down to her ear, still lifting her entire body weight with my arms.

"I love you too."

"Kiss!" Fangs shouts.

I look to her and put my hand on the side of her face, kissing her lips as gently as I possibly can. I kiss her for a long second, making sure that she takes some pleasure in it after all of that terrible pain.

When I pull away, her eyes look wavering and her body is still shaking against my own. I try not to feel bad. I try to push away that fear so that there is nothing left. I can't do it. It still hurts no matter how hard I try.

When everyone is gone and she is officially my serpent queen, I pull her back to the trailer. I have to literally drag her or she won't move. She said one of them punched her hip. I don't remember it but I was trying really hard to be scared and angry the entire time. I pull her into the back room and sit her down on the bed. I grab a washcloth and some Band-Aids. She leans into my touch whenever I am there.

"It's okay, Jug," she promises. "I'm okay."

"They trust you," I say.

"I could tell."

Once her face is clean, I put two bandages on the cut under her eye and the one under her chin. I help her lay back in the bed and then sit beside her with my arms around her shaking body the entire time. I try my best not to feel like I am going to shake out of my own skin too. I know that she can tell.

"I almost stopped the whole thing the first punch," I admit.

"I know. I was hoping you wouldn't. But I knew that you would've wanted to," she says. I look down to see a smile on her face. I brush my hand down her cheek and then graze it over her arm.

"Does it hurt bad?" I ask, trying not to sound like a bitch but I know that my voice cracked with fear.

"Just my head from the eye punch. The rest is sore but it's alright. I'll be fine, Jug. They didn't do any real damage," she promises.

I try to believe her and kiss her forehead.

"I was scared to death, Bets," I admit.

"I know. I'm alright." She laughs then but then groans and holds onto her side. I grab her hand and let her squeeze me.

"What?" I ask.

"How the hell are you going to explain my black eye to Arch?"

I roll my eyes.

"Gauntlet part two for the Serpent King."


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter Thirteen**

 **Betty**

I sit down as slowly as possible, handing Attorney McCoy a glass of water. Mrs. Andrews sits across the table. They have been passing papers back and forth, talking in strained voices to each other.

"Betty! What happened? Are you okay?" Mrs. Andrews asks.

"Yeah. I'm fine," I say, dismissing her.

She does not let it go. She holds her hands in front of her on the table. McCoy sits just feet from me. She is not looking at me at all. I wonder if she doesn't care why my face looks like this or she just does not want to ask anything about it. That is probably smart. I don't think that I can say anything about it anyway.

"Did someone hit you?" she asks. She looks like she might touch the side of my face. I have a black eye and a red mark on the side of my head. I have a bruise under my chin and my ribs look like hell. But they can only see the ones on my face. I have avoided wearing a swim suit for the past few days. It was just yesterday that I was naked in Jug's arms. He told me that he was scared to hurt me so he moved slowly and so gently the entire time. I can remember every feeling of that right now.

"Yeah," I say with a shrug. "It was an accident. There was a party and someone was being clumsy. They didn't mean to hit me."

"Twice?" she asks, pointing under her chin. I shake my head, grinding my teeth together and digging my nails into my palms. I am not sure that I can explain anymore to her. I know the story sounds stupid but there is no way to avoid talking about a black eye. It looks like someone punched me. It could hardly be anything else.

"Betty, I heard Archie yelling at Jug the other day," she says as she shuffles through her papers.

"About what?" I ask.

"Letting you join the serpents."

I take a deep breath. I didn't hide the fact that I am with them. I have the jacket in my room. People know that I am a serpent. I just didn't think it would get around to the adults. Now that it has, I am sure my mother is going to find out if she doesn't know already. I lean back in my chair, defeated.

"What were they saying?"

"Archie thinks it is a bad idea. I have to agree, Betty. You are a sweet girl. The serpents are violent people. You could get mixed up in a lot of legal trouble if you stay on with them," she says.

"That's alright, Mrs. A. I'm fine."

"Is that how you got that black eye? And by the way, there is no amount of make-up that is going to keep that from Archie," she says.

"I know. That is why I haven't been hiding it."

"Should I go?" McCoy asks awkwardly. I look to her and then back to Mrs. Andrews. I hear the door open. I turn to it when Jug walks through with a smile on his face. That perfect smile that makes me smile back at him.

"No. No. It's okay," I say to McCoy.

"Jug, what are you doing here?" I ask with a smile. I stand up to greet him. I know I should be working but I have no choice. There is a magnet pull toward him that I cannot overpower or take away.

"Betty," he says. "What are you doing here?"

His face is in shock, almost as if he is scared for me. I put my hand to his face and look into his scared eyes. Now I can feel a cold fear in my heart too. I kiss his cheek and he puts his arms on either side of me.

"You should brace yourself," he says.

"What?" I demand.

I realize what he is talking about when Archie walks through the door and closes it behind him. The first thing that he sees is me. Our eyes meet and his face breaks into a thousand shattered pieces on the ground. I walk away from Jug so that Archie can truly see me. He looks terrified.

"Betty," he says with concern.

I don't have anything to say. Instead I step toward him with a nod of my head. I let him look at me. He looks down to my toes and then back up to my chin and over to my eye. I know he is terrified from the tears in his eyes and the broken way his lower lip shakes. It scares me too. If I saw him this way, I would react the same way. He will blame himself for not being able to save me.

"Betty?" he asks. "What…how did you…"

He then turns to Jug.

"What happened? Why didn't you tell me? Was she jumped? Where the hell were you?" Archie demands, getting closer to Jug. He stops when their chests are just inches apart. I look to the both of them, considering breaking this up and then decide that it won't matter. Archie already knows.

"I was…Archie, it's not what you think," Jug says.

"Then what the hell is it?"

"I'm fine. Let's not worry about it," I say. "It's not a big deal, Arch."

He looks to me and grazes his finger over the side of my face. He then touches right under my chin and I flinch away from him. He looks shocked and also concerned. Even flinching hurts my ribs. He looks down at me.

"Betty tell me the truth," he says. "Why are you lying? Just tell me what is going on and I will understand."

"No, you won't, Archie," Jug says. He puts his hand on mine, squeezing it at my side. "Just let it be."

"This has to do with you, doesn't it?" Archie asks. He steps closer to him so that their faces are just two inches apart. I am sure that he is going to hurt Jughead. I cannot imagine what he is thinking.

"What are you doing?" I demand.

"Did you hurt her?" he asks.

"Oh my god, Arch! No! No! He didn't hurt me," I promise. I put my hand on Archie's chest and push him away a little. It is enough for him to look to me with desperation on his face. I know I should just ignore all of it and go back to helping the others with Archie's case. But he is not going to let this go.

"Then what?" he asks.

"It was an accident."

"You are still lying," he says.

I turn to Jughead. I know that he doesn't want me to tell him. I don't want him to know either but there might be some truth in it. Jughead presses his lips together and then just nods to me.

"You know I joined the serpents. There is a tradition called the gauntlet where every young serpent hits the new serpent. Since I'm his queen, I had to do it to earn their trust. At the end Jug kisses me and they all welcome me into being a serpent."

He looks to Jughead. Without a single move, he punches him across the face. I step between them as Jughead grabs his shoulders and pushes him off. I push Archie with my own arms as he attempts to go toward Jug again. I stand in front of Jug as he tries to get around me. I keep my arms on his chest.

"Stop it! Stop it, Archie!" I shout.

I hear Mrs. Andrews get up just then. She puts her hand on Archie's shoulder too. We all stand still, watching each other. Archie looks terrified but he is also very strong. He is angry with the man behind me.

"Arch," I say with a sigh. "I did this because I wanted to. Jughead tried to get me to stop. I earned their trust. I am a serpent, Archie. You have to understand that and I need you to be okay with it."

"I will never be okay with that," he says with a shrug. "And just because you did this does not mean that you have to be a serpent. You can stop. You can come back to the rest of us. I just don't want you getting hurt like this."

"This was a one-time thing. After that, she will never be hurt again. A hundred serpents have her back now. She will never walk alone again. No one can harass her without knowing that they are going to be destroyed by the rest of us. Archie, this is protecting her, not hurting her. I would never hurt Betty. I love her, you know that," Jug says.

I want to capture him in my arms and kiss him forever.

"Yeah, she looks fine," Arch says with a shrug. He turns to the stairs and runs up them. I want to go after him but then decide that I shouldn't. I turn back to Jug as the adults disperse. I put my arms on his.

"You will have to talk to him later," Jug says.

"I know. I'm letting him cool off first."

"How have you been keeping this from your mother?" he asks.

"I left before she woke up. I come home later. I wore make up, hoping that she wouldn't notice. She's been busy lately. Honestly, I didn't think that I would be able to avoid her for that long."

He nods. I turn back to the table when I hear a knock on the door.

"I'll get it, Mrs. A," I tell her.

I open the door for her and see my mother standing on their porch.

Uh oh.

"Betty! What the hell happened to your face?"


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter Fourteen**

 **Betty**

I look over to Jug.

"I am so dead," I say with wide eyes. He grabs my arm and wraps his around mine, almost as if he is sure that he can keep himself close enough to me to protect me from my mother. I appreciate it but I am not sure even he can do that.

"Elizabeth Cooper! WHAT DID YOU DO TO YOUR FACE?" she demands. I look to Jug but he is no help. His face is just as scared as mine. I realize that we are going to have to face this at some point. I try not to form my hands into fists. I can't scare him anymore than he already is. I squeeze his hand and then step in front of him.

"Let's take this outside. They have work to do and once I explain everything, I am going to go back to doing that work with them, mom," I tell her.

"Get outside, right now," she demands.

I grab Jug's hand and pull him outside. We stop on their porch, closing the door behind us. I stand right in front of him as my mother crosses her arms over her chest and girts her teeth together.

"Explain, Betty. Now. And I don't want to hear a peep from Mr. crown hat over there," she says.

"First, calm down. Don't be rude to Jughead, Mom. He told me not to do it. He tried to stop me. But there is no point in lying to you," I say.

"Betty, no," I hear behind me. Jughead doesn't want me to say anything. I can understand it. It's terrifying. But I have to tell her. Plus, I think she might already know what is going on. When I tell her, she is not going to be surprised.

"It's okay, Jug," I assure. I squeeze his hand again and then take a deep breath. I make myself focus on explaining what happened and then dealing with the aftermath later. "I can do this. I can tell her."

"Now, Elizabeth."

I take a step closer to her and nod.

"Fine," I agree. "Let me say the entire thing and then ask your questions."

She nods. I'll take it.

"There is ritual that the serpents do when they join called the gauntlet." I can see her trying to interrupt me but she decides that she shouldn't. I am not going to tell her anything if she is not going to let me talk. "Serpents of around the same age as the new comer stand in two lines on either side of the new comer. Then the new serpent walks through them and each one gives one hit to them."

"You joined the serpents?" she asks with a face so angry that I think about backing up. I put my hand on Jug's arm. I pull him back a little bit. I think he might have to run if she comes at us. I know she will hurt him more than me.

"Yes, mom. I did," I say.

"What were you thinking? You can't make those same mistakes, Betty! You are not allowed to be anywhere near them! I forbid it! You are going to stay as far away from Jughead as you can! I don't even want you talking to them anymore! This is over, Betty! Over!"

I wait until she is done with her speech to speak back to her. I take a deep breath and feel Jug shaking behind me.

"There's more," I whisper.

She looks behind me and then down my body. Her face is angry but I know she is scared. I can see right through her. She doesn't want to admit that she is scared for me. she walked this road first. But she gave up on FP. She never gave him the chance to prove himself and his loyalty to her. She thought she was better than them.

"Are you pregnant?" she demands.

"No. No, of course not," I say. She looks relieved but also confused. Maybe she wishes that over what I am about to tell her. I can hear Jug sigh behind me. I squeeze him again. I don't want to look back at his terrified face.

"What is it then?" she demands.

"I'm not just a serpent. When FP retired from the serpents, he made Jug their king, their leader," I explain. I take a deep breath. This time I look back to Jug. He is scared, shaking even but I hold onto his hand with strength. I watch as he lets out a shaking breath and stares at my mother.

"When Jug became their king, I didn't want him to work alone. I am not just a serpent, Mom. I'm—"

"You're their queen," she says with a frown and a trembling lip. I bite my lip and just nod. She knows already. I don't know how she knew that but I am glad that I didn't have to tell her. Jug steps in front of me.

"She's my queen, Mrs. Cooper. This gauntlet was a one-time thing. I tried to tell her not to do it but all of the serpents trust her now. They are going to protect her with their lives. The more time she spends with me, the safer she is from anyone else," he says. His voice is strong and brave. I feel proud of him.

"Safer? Jughead! You let my daughter be fumbled by your so-called friends!" she shouts.

"I know it sounds bad, Mom. I promise that he did not want me to do it. I wanted them to trust me and I knew that this would get their trust. He took care of me after. Someone had to hold him back so that he wouldn't pull me out of the line-up."

"It's true," he says. "I never wanted her to do that. But I promise from now on she is protected by us. By all of us. They respect her and they know to take orders from her. We are working together now."

My mom is not convinced. Her face is angry and scared all at the same time. I make sure to stay close to Jughead as she wraps her mind around this strange event. I don't know how much time passes before she finally breathes and then nods. She looks like she might even accept it but I know that is not going to happen.

"Betty, you are not to see a serpent again. You are not to be near Jughead and I…I'm transferring you to a new school."

"Whoa! Mom. That's a little dramatic," I say.

"No. Betty. It is not. You deserve this. You are going to thank me later. Please, Betty. Just listen to your mother. Come home with me and we can let all of this behind us. I will even show you how to cover that up!" she says with a smile.

"Mom, that's crazy!" I shout.

"It doesn't matter, Mrs. Cooper!" Jughead shouts.

"It certainty—"

"No, it doesn't. No matter where Betty goes or what she does, she is a serpent for life now. No matter where you send her, the serpents will find her and they will bring her in as one of their own. She is one of us now, Mrs. Cooper. It's permanent." He is trembling when his eyes waver back to me. "Show her, Betty."

"Show me what?" mom asks.

I nod to him and lift my shorts, turning to the side so that she can see the big green serpent tattoo on the side of my thigh.

Her mouth drops and her eyes go wide. She looks shocked but also terrified. Her eyes become sad and I can almost see the tears in them. I did not mean to scare her. I did not mean to make her feel like this. But she gave us no choice.

"Tell me that isn't real, Elizabeth," she says.

"It's real, mom." I pause. "My serpent jacket is at Jughead's. Ask any of them, they will tell you who their queen is. I am proud to be a serpent, to help them, to support them and to be there for my boyfriend. They need a woman's touch, mother. They have one now. I am not going anywhere."

She looks like she might cry right before she runs from the porch and back to our house. I don't follow her. I don't even call after her. I have nothing left to say to her. Jughead grabs my hands and turns me around. He pulls me close to his chest and lets my head fall on him. I allow myself to feel comfort in his arms.

"I love you," he whispers in a soft, quiet voice.

"I love you too," I assure.

"Why do I feel like we just dodged a bullet?" he asks.

The door to their house opens. I turn to the side and find Archie standing in the doorway. He looks to me and then back to Jug.

"Why did I just hear your mom ask if that was real? Is what real?" he asks. "Why did she leave like that?"

"Spoke to soon," Jug mutters behind me.

I turn to the side and pull my shorts up a little. He looks the same: shocked. But then his face changes a little bit. It is enough that I am confused. He sniffles and then steps forward, holding out his hand.

"What?" I ask.

"This is permanent, isn't it?" he asks.

"Yes," I assure.

His hand is shaking but his face is strong and his body posture is official. I put my hand in his. I can feel Jug standing behind me.

"You promise to protect her, Jughead?" he asks.

"Of course."

"Come here," Archie says, pulling on my hand. I let him pull me into a hug. He needs a hug, not another argument. He doesn't need another trial to be a part of. He needs to be close to his friends.

"I need my friends," Archie says against me. I pull away just a little so that I can see his face. I feel Jughead's hand on my shoulder.

"You have them," I assure. Jug puts his hand on Archie's shoulder with a smile.

"Both of them," he assures.

"I can't believe my two best friends are serpents," he says, shaking his head.

"Believe it, Arch," I say. "Believe it."


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter Fifteen**

 **Jughead**

"Great, Bets. You're going on the stand looking like that. People are going to think I beat you up or something," I tell her as we stand outside of the courtroom. I bounce on my heels as people wisp around us. I try as hard as I can to remember how to breathe but I am terrified of going back in there.

"Jug, no one is going to think that. The bruises aren't even that visible," she says. I look down at her body. The blue dress is tight around her waist but stops at least two inches above her knee, revealing the bottom of her tattoo. I put my hand on hers, interlocking our fingers together.

"If they don't notice the bruise, they are sure as hell going to notice the tattoo," I say with a sigh.

"Jug," she says with a small smile. She takes a step closer and puts her arm around my waist. She looks into my eyes without a hint of hate or uneasiness. It bewilders me because I am terrified about this whole thing. All she can do is smile at me when I nervously run my tongue over my lips.

"I am fine," she says. "I am proud of being your queen and being a serpent. Juggie, there is nothing wrong with being a serpent. I am not at all ashamed of it and you shouldn't be either. When they question me, I am going to be honest. That is all I have to do anyway. He is my best friend. Anything they ask me is going to be easy for me to answer."

"What if they try to use it against you?" I ask her, holding her close to my body. I don't want her too far away.

"They won't."

"What if they do?" I insist.

"Then I will defend myself and you and the rest of the serpents, Jug. I am not some push over."

I take a deep breath and close my eyes. I am trying to calm back down. I rest my head on her shoulder for a long second. We stand there holding each other for a while. I hear them call us into the court room so I am forced to stand up. I hold onto her hand. It is obvious I am shaking with worry.

"Jug, I am going to be fine," she insists as we enter. I lean down to whisper in her ear.

"You know I hate court rooms, especially when I am talking. But having someone I love do it…it's so much worse," I admit.

I try so hard not think about Jellybean. I miss her.

"I'm okay," she whispers as we take our seats.

I squeeze her hand as they begin talking. I am not able to listen. I don't want to hear their opening remarks. It is some of the same stuff I have already heart. Archie is shaking his leg in his chair as the lawyers speak one then the other. I wait for all of that to stop. Finally, Betty is called to the stand.

"The defense calls Elizabeth Cooper to the stand," Mrs. Andrews says. I turn to her, realizing that I am going to be sitting here alone now. She squeezes my hand before standing up and walking toward the stand. She turns and there are a few gasps from the jury when they see her tattoo. They all saw it as she walked by them. They all got a glimpse of the fact that my girlfriend, Elizabeth Cooper is not a reliable witness because she too is a South Side Serpent. The two witnesses that the defense has are delinquent gang members in the eyes of the jury and everyone watching.

Archie is so screwed.

After she is sworn in, she looks to me with a small smile and then back to Archie. She sits up straight. Her blonde hair falls in curls around her face and shoulders. I like it when she wears her hair out but I like it even more when I see it out because I pulled her ponytail. It ends in a flailed mess with curls around her face and sweat on her brow. That is what really makes me smile.

I try to think about all of those beautiful things when Mrs. Andrews starts asking her questions.

"How do you know the defendant?" Mrs. Andrews asks.

Betty gives a soft smile, as if she is trying to make the jury like her again. She wants to show them that she is an innocent teenager.

"I'm his best friend. We have been best friends since we were very young," she says. At least the first questions are easy.

"Where did you stay in the Lodge residence that evening?" she asks.

"In my room with Jughead," she says, nodding.

"What did you do that day?" she asks.

"When we woke up, Veronica and Archie were already awake. Veronica told me that we were going out. I went out with her to the store where we saw Cassidy."

"Did you notice anything about him?" she asks.

"No. He was flirting. I told Ronnie to stop flirting with him. When I came back, Jug and I hung out. At the end of the evening we were all playing monopoly. I got a call from my mom. She said that my dad sold the register to Mr. Lodge. Jug and I were really upset so we were arguing with Archie and Veronica. That's when we heard something break."

"How many men came into the home?" she asks.

"Three."

"Could you tell who they were?"

"I knew right away that the first one was Cassidy. He was the angriest one."

"What did you do as Veronica went upstairs with him?" she asks. Betty takes a deep breath and looks to me. Our eyes lock and I nod to her. I just want her to tell the truth so that she can come back off of that stand.

"The others didn't really say anything. They just told us not to move and that was it. Jughead put me behind him. I could barely see around his shoulder. I waited until Veronica came back down. It wasn't long."

"Then what did they have you do?" she asks.

"They had us get on our knees. Veronica said that there was a silent alarm. They started running. Archie went after them. Jug ran after Archie and I grabbed his arm to hold him back. I didn't want him to get hurt too."

She nods and smiles at Betty.

"Do you have anything to say about Archie?" she asks. Betty looks right to Archie. I can see her lower lip trembling. She is making that face that I fear. Her eyebrows come in and I can see her lean down a little.

"He is my best friend. Archie and I have been loyal to each other since the day we met. We have been inseparable because every time I need him, no matter where he is or what he is doing, he is there for me. He walks me to school. He makes sure I get home safely. He talks to me when I'm sad. Our bedroom windows literally face each other. Archie is the kind of friend that will fight for you. He is loyal and kind. I was there that night. When he came back in, he didn't have blood on him. He looked confused but not scared or freaked out. He was just Archie."

A tear falls down her face. I lean forward, knowing that I can't help her. She is up there and I am back here. But I need to. I have to get to her. She wipes her face off and then leans back in her chair, forgetting her posture. I sniffle and stare at her, trying to catch her eyes but she won't look at me.

"That concludes our questions. Thank you, Ms. Cooper," Mrs. Andrews says.

"The state has a few questions," the other lawyer says. The judge nods and gestures for her to walk to the front.

"Elizabeth, is it true that you have recently joined the South Side Serpents?" she asks.

Oh god. No.

"Yes," she says, straightening her back and raising her eyebrows just a little, as she always does when she is trying to look as if she is above someone else. I appreciate that. She might take it better than me.

"Is it true that you are named their Serpent Queen with your boyfriend Jughead Jones being their other leader?" she asks.

"Yes."

"Is it also true that the South Side Serpents are known for being delinquents and thugs?" she asks.

"Not under my rule," Betty says.

She looks right at me when she says that and I smile back at her.

The woman nods and then steps in front of Betty.

"That's all," she says and then steps back toward her desk. I look to Betty with a smile and a nod, proud of my queen.

It seemed as if she tamed the beast, at least for one interview.


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter Sixteen**

 **Jughead**

I wrap my arms around Betty's small body. I hold her close, putting her head on my shoulder. I close my eyes as we hold each other. I keep her close, squeezing her a little more. I kiss her blonde hair and rub her back.

"Can I stay at your place today?" she asks against my shoulder. I feel her arms tighten around my waist. I smile against her head as I kiss her face and then make her look at me, holding her between my hands.

"Nothing would make me happier," I agree.

"My mom is going to hate me forever now," she whispers.

"No, she won't," I say. "Come on."

I take her hand and pull her toward my motorcycle. I am tired of being near this stupid place anyway. Her mom has been nothing but bitchy since she found out about the serpents and what we've been doing. But now that she knows, we can't exactly wrangle that cat back in the bag.

I hold her hand as she throws her leg around my motorcycle. She wraps her arms around my back and leans forward onto me. I make her hold onto me tightly. I wish that I could feel her this close to me all the time.

"Let's get out of here," I say.

"Please."

As we ride along backroads and far off woods, I remind myself that each moment I get to spend with Betty is a beautiful one. I attempt to forget the pain that we both felt during his trial. I attempt to release the pain of every other emotion that has run through my body every moment of this stupid trial.

Finally, we arrive back at my place. I turn the engine off, take off my helmet and hold my hand out to Betty. She smiles as we go back inside. I close the door behind me, making me way to the couch where I pull her over to me so that she can sit on my lap. I kiss her forehead and then wrap my arm around her back. She leans back on me and the arm of the sofa so that we can hold each other.

"What were you thinking about during the trial the other day?" she asks.

"My other trial," I tell her. I lean over and kiss her neck, pulling her strap from her shoulder as I kiss down her arm. She shrugs me off and pushes me away so that she can sit all the way up. I know what she is going to say. Betty gives me that disapproving look that always irritates me so much.

"What?" I ask.

"You are avoiding the question," she says.

"I know."

She tilts her head forward. She rests her hand on my chest and then on the other side of my face, kissing my cheek. She makes me look at her and then we both sit there in complete silence waiting for the other person to crack first. It's almost scary. The kind of scary that tightens your chest and makes your stomach fill with knots and worry. I try to breathe but it comes out in nothing but quivering lips. She brushes her finger over the bottom of my face. I want her to keep her hand there.

"Tell me, Jug," she begs.

I don't want to talk about it but I do want to tell her. I find myself wanting her to know everything about me, even the really bad stuff. Because when the dark finds Betty, suddenly the light shines upon it and even death itself is reversed. Betty brings angels to my most dark of demons.

"In the trial, they kept asking questions as if they already knew the answers to them. They were just assuming that my father beat me and that my mother was crazy. I was trying to be honest but I didn't know what to do. I thought that if I lied I was going to be safe and stay home. It was all terrible," I admit.

"Just talk to me, Juggie" she begs again. This time I nod. I keep my arm around her body tightly so that I can feel my own fingers shaking, so I know she can feel it too. I kiss her forehead before I begin.

I am thrown into the memory like a Vietnam flashback. It's dramatic and terrifying all at the same time. The edges of the memory are foggy but the rest of it is as clear as if I had felt it just moments ago.

I tell her all of it.

 _The end of the trial is brutal. I'm young. Jellybean is nothing but a bouncy baby on my mother's knee. I am watching from my chair as everyone comes back into the court room. I feel alone but I am surrounded by people._

" _Since there is no physical evidence of abuse and Jughead has said that he has never been hit, kicked, punched or beaten by his parents in any way," the judge says. I lean forward in my chair. Jellybean is staring at the judge as if she understands. I put my hand over to her and she grabs my finger, immediately trying to put it in her mouth._

" _After the doctor has examined Forsythia…Jellybean, it has been decided that she also has no evidence of abuse or neglect," the judge says. But I can feel something growing in my gut. It's terror, I think. "However…"_

 _I knew that was coming. My mother leans back in her chair. Jellybean doesn't understand. She slouches in mom's hands. Dad is already looking angry, as if he might burst and scream at any moment. Jellybean pulls my finger into her mouth again. I try to focus on the beautiful little girl instead of the pain that I am feeling in my gut._

" _It is clear that the trailer the family is living in is not equipped for children. We would like both parents to take a week of parenting courses, fix up their trailer and prove that it is safe and clear for children."_

 _My mom sighs. I don't know what that really means. Can I stay at home? Do I have to go somewhere else? A lot of thought goes through my head as terror comes with it. I put my hand on the back of Jellybeans head as I realize what is about to happen. Mom looks scared. She might cry. I blink back my own tears when I realize this._

" _Forsythe Pendleton the third and Forsythia Jones will be sent to a temporary placement for the length of seven days while parenting classes, trailer clean up and proof of safety measures are put into place," the judge says. "As of this moment, Jughead and Jellybean will be taken into the custody of Child Protective Services and driven to their temporary foster home."_

 _No. No. I grab Jellybean as my mom sobs. I hold her to my chest as she realizes that she is being taken from our mom. I stand up in the confusion, holding my baby sister in my arms as I cradle her head. Some guard puts his hand on my back. I turn back to my parents, begging them to give me the right thing to do. I want them to tell me how to act or what to say. They look confused. My father is angry. He doesn't even look at me as he rests his head down in his lap. Mom is crying, almost sobbing. Dad doesn't even look at her. He puts his hand on her back but doesn't look at her. She pushes him off and reaches her arms over, as if to take Jellybean back. But I can't give her back. I squeeze her tight as she cries, screaming for the woman that is screaming for her._

" _Alright. It is one week. Come on, miss. Don't make your kids more upset than they already are," another guard says to my mother._

" _I'll see you soon," Mom says through her tears. "You'll be fine! You'll be safe there! Take care of your sister!"_

" _I will, Mom."_

 _I always do._

"God, Jug," Betty says. I drop my hand down my face and rest my head on her shoulder as we lean onto each other.

"Was the home bad?" she asks.

I shake my head, not letting her see my face as we hold each other.

"No. it was fine. It was different. She was scared a lot. But we were okay. I kept her close to me so we were okay."

She nods.

"I'm so sorry that happened," she says. "Afterwards, did you go back home?"

"Yeah. They took a week and then I was allowed to come back home. Nothing changed. When we came back, they were angry with each other and themselves. It was hard. But at least we were there. It was just a few weeks after that where I was playing with matches in the elementary school."

"I remember them taking them from you."

I nod, remembering her pink skirt and blonde hair. She came into the hallway where I was and saw that I was crying. She sat down beside me and saw that I had matches in my hand. She asked me to put them down but I wouldn't.

"When they arrested you…it wasn't right," she says. "We all knew it wasn't right."

I nod.

"I don't want to talk about that anymore."

I lean over her body and kiss her once. We kiss each other again, deepening it every time we lean closer. I kiss her neck and then down her shoulder. she lets me when I move her strap off of her shoulder and pull my hand up her thigh. We hold each other close, kissing and caressing for a few seconds before I hear a knock on the door. Betty tilts my head back and kisses me again right under my jaw.

"Don't answer it," she says.

I smile as I kisses her again. then there is a banging. It doesn't sound like knocking. It is more desperate and unstable than that. I jump off of her and stand up. She rolls her eyes as she pulls her hand back to me.

"Come on," she says.

"What if it's important?" I ask.

I open the door as Betty crosses her legs on the couch feet from me. I am not expecting what I see. Archie Andrews is at my door step, bloodied and bruised with his button up torn and his shoes nowhere in sight.


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter Seventeen**

 **Betty**

"Betty!" Jug shouts. I adjust my shirt and fix my hair as I walk over to him. Jughead is in a panic. I can her his breathing from feet away where I stand. He is leaned over, trying to pull something into the door. I realize then that it's a person. I lean down to the person, hunched over them to help him pull him in.

His face is dirty and bruised. There is blood on the side of his mouth and under his nose. His chest is gleaming with the red, shiny liquid. His body looks weak and horrified. There are tear tracks in the dirt on his face. His voice is so familiar I could fall asleep to it. He leans his head back into Jug's arms when he sees me.

"Betty," he mutters.

Archie. Oh god, Arch.

"Right here," I assure.

"What happened?" Juggie asks as we pull him into the trailer. Jughead gets under his back and grunts as he pulls him past the door. I stumble with Archie's legs as we set him on the couch. I close and lock the door behind him. Wherever he came from, I don't trust what is going on out there.

"How did this happen?" I demand, kneeling beside his face. His hand falls over the edge of the couch. I grab it, pulling it toward me and squeezing his hand. He grunts when I do this and then I realize, we have no idea how injured he really is.

"Jug, get the first aid kit, some water and some washcloths, please," I tell him. He nods and rushes to the other side of the trailer. I hold Archie in place as I look over his body.

"Where does it hurt?" I ask.

"My face," he says. I put my hand on his face and along his cheek bone and nose. Nothing is broken but the bruises have already started.

"My wrist." I see a large bruise on his wrist and feel it. I can move it all around so it's not broken but he shouts when I flex it so it might be sprained.

"My stomach," he says. I lift his shirt to reveal bruising there too but they're light and scattered, as if someone kicked him.

"And uh…my balls don't feel great," he admits.

I look in his eyes with a question. I can only check that if he lets me look at them. And to be honest, I really really don't want to see him naked. I would like to avoid that if at all possible. But if he is really hurt, someone needs to look at him.

"I think they're okay," he says in a voice so tired I am not sure how he is mustering up the energy to even speak. "But I'm not sure cause they kicked me."

"Who kicked you, Arch?" Jug asks as he turns the corner. He sets the stuff I asked for on the table beside me. I open the first aid kit and grab the washcloth. I douse it in water before trying to wipe his face off. when the dirt and blood are cleared, I can see the bruising around his eye and around his mouth.

"I don't know. There were these kids when I was walking around my neighborhood after the trial. They said they recognized me and that I shouldn't have killed that guy. They beat me up. I got in a couple of punches but there were five of them. They were older, I think. Twenties or something like that," he says.

"Any better description?" I ask.

"Yeah. One of them had black hair and was wearing a Halloween tee shirt. It had orange and black pumpkins on it. He was wearing Jeans. He had a butterfly tattoo on his upper arm," he says.

I have an idea. I look to Jug and raise my eyebrows. He doesn't get it. I know that. But that's okay. The Serpents will listen to me just the same.

"What about the others?" I ask.

"One of them was wearing a really long black vest and had curly hair. He had a nose ring," Archie says. "The others wore dark clothes but they didn't look any different."

He rests his head back on the pillow and breathes deeply. I put my hand against his hair. I grab a wrap from the first aid kit and his hand. I begin the wrap as I make the plan in my head. I am going to tell the others and they are going to take him down. Archie is already in pain. He doesn't need this.

Once his wrist is wrapped, I set it on his chest.

"Can you get some ice?" I ask Jug. He nods and runs off again. He comes back with ice so I put it on Archie's arm and prop it against the back of the sofa. He looks so tired.

"Thanks, Betty," he says.

"You're gonna be fine," I remind him.

He nods and bites his lower lip. Jug sits by his knees, watching our friend try to fight off the pain.

"They kicked me pretty bad, Jug," he admits.

"Want me to…?"

He shakes his head.

"Ice?" I ask.

Archie nods.

Jug grabs some more ice and gives it over to Archie. I sit on the floor, pushing his sweaty hair from his face and watching his eyes flicker and fade. He has felt too much for too long. He needs to relax.

"I'll call Veronica," Jug says, pulling out his phone.

"No! Please don't," Archie begs.

"What? Why?" I ask.

"Veronica is going to want to know, Arch," Jug says.

"I don't want to worry her anymore than I already have. The trial and everything…it's too much. She needs to relax. I'll be fine. Can I just stay here for the night? I mean, would you mind, Jug?" he asks.

Jughead looks to me. I shrug. Of course he can stay here.

"Dad's out with the others anyway," Jug says. "Sure. It's fine."

"I still think we should tell her," I admit.

Archie shakes his head, tears filling his eyes. I look to Jug with a scared expression. He looks frightened too. He sits back down beside Archie, putting his hand on his leg when I put my hand to the side of his face.

"You're okay now," I assure.

"Yeah, man. You fought off a bunch of jerks and made your way all the way here," Jug says. "You're dealing with a lot right now, man. Just get some sleep. You'll feel better."

Archie closes his eyes, letting his tears fall down his face. I grab my Serpent jacket from the hook and throw it on my shoulders as I walk past Jug.

"Uh…where the hell are you going?" he asks.

I put my black boots on, even with the dress that I wore to the trial. I look back to Jug, pulling my hair up into a ponytail where it belongs.

"To tell the rest of the serpents what they're doing tonight."

I don't catch the expression on Jug's face before I close the door behind me and leave. I run down the steps out into the tents and make shift homes that they have all created for themselves.

"Hey!" I shout.

No one responds or moves. Two serpents are out by the fire but the rest of them must be in their tents. I know they can hear me.

"Hey! Get the hell out here!" I shout.

Nothing.

I run to the red tent, knowing whose it is and open it. I see Deadeye and Toni wrapped up together. Their clothes are in a pile beside them as they kiss.

"Get the hell out here," I say.

I go to the next tent and the next before I have more than twenty serpents out of their tents and all looking to me.

"The next time Jughead or I call you out here, I need you to listen!" I shout. I let the anger I feel toward those bastards that beat up Archie fuel my next few words and the passion that comes behind them.

"We're out here now. What do you want?" Deadeye asks.

"I have a request for all of you. Who's up for some fighting?"

I get a few smiles out of that response.

"I want at least fifteen of you to find five men. They were around the end of Archie's neighborhood." I continue with the descriptions that Archie gave me. After I am finished, I look around at the angry Serpents that I have created. They are seething with rage, just as I am. Red headed Deadeye smirks to me.

"Can I shoot them?" she asks.

"Shoot to injure. Don't kill anyone," I request. "But beat them up and make sure they spread the word. Anyone that hurts Archie, has to go through us first. Got it?"

"Hell yeah!"

"Will you go with us, queen?" Sweet Pea asks with a smirk. I look back to the trailer and then to the rest of them. I can't just order them to beat these people the hell up and then not go with them when it happens.

"We have to be quick. An hour tops. We take the bikes. We find them. We beat them up and we come back here like nothing happened. Got it?" I demand.

"If you lead the charge," Toni says.

I nod in agreement, hoping Jughead isn't watching.

"Let's do this."


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter Eighteen**

 **Betty**

There they are. I see six of them. One large guy with tattoos and a nose ring is leaning against a black fence. We are just feet from the river, behind the line of trees. All six of them look to the gang of bikers that stop where they are. I see one of them with a sugar stick and then another with a cigarette. We turn our bikes to the edge of the street and stop. I get off of mine and set the helmet on my seat.

"What are we doing?" Sweet Pea asks.

"Beating the hell out of them and then leaving," I assure.

We jump through the trees and end up on the other side. They stop their laughing and look to us with confusion. I decide that they have to know why we are here. If there are just a bunch of random serpents hurting other people and showing up in neighborhoods, trashing their teenagers, things are going to get dangerous. So instead, their Serpent Queen will have to talk to them.

"Hey! You guys know that red head that you beat up for no reason?" I ask.

"That kid killed Cassidy! He deserved it!" the tall one says. He snarls between his teeth. Another one takes a shot of a pixie stick and then I understand.

"They're all high," I mutter to the others. Sweet Pea stands beside me, pushing his chest out so that he is just inches from the other guy.

"What the hell are you guys?" he asks.

"We're the serpents."

"Then we want to talk to your leader. We don't want anyone getting the wrong idea. We beat that kid up because he deserved to get beat the hell up. he killed someone. But if I could tell that to someone with some authority, that would be great."

I laugh so hard I almost fall over. I put my arms across my chest and bite my lower lip as I step forward so that Sweet Pea won't be covering me anymore.

"You're talking to her, bitch," I say. "And you should know that Archie did not kill that guy. He was framed. So not only did you beat up an innocent teenager, you beat up an innocent who was framed for murder. An innocent with friends, by the way. And since you thought that you would take it upon yourself to take control of this, we thought we would show you what it means to take control."

I put my right hand up and show them our serpent symbol. It take one second before I hear a snarl. My serpents charge him, two to each of their bitchy faces. The kicking, punching and screaming lasts for a few seconds before I decide to get involved. I jump in when I see Sweet Pea holding that big guy down.

"Let me," I tell him.

I stop, putting my heel on his throat and leaning down so that I can see him struggle. He gasps for air and rips his hands at my leg. He tries to pull me off of him but I am too easily stabilized. Sweet Pea holds the rest of him down as I push my heel harder into his throat. I put my hand on the nasty nose ring that he has sticking out from his septum.

"You thought that you could hurt my friend but taking away the one thing that he had left. He had pride and his body. But no. you wanted that too, even though you knew nothing about the case."

He struggles underneath of me, pushing me off. I kick him again, placing my heel above his eye and leaning down again as he sits completely still. He is so still that it almost shocks me. I lean over his body.

"Get anywhere near Archie or any of our friends again…and we will end you," I assure.

He doesn't move or even speak. His face is in pure shock and his body is completely still. I want to reach down and gouge his eyes out but I know that is not going to help. I know what I need to do. I need to destroy their hope. If I do that, maybe they will back the hell off and tell everyone else what happened to them.

"If anyone ever comes for him again, I am going to find you and ask why it happened," I say. "Don't think of crossing us again. Do you understand, low life?"

He nods slowly but with fear.

The sound of fear and anger still rings throughout the small space between the fence and the trees. I stand above them all, not letting the kid get up from where we are making him lay. I look to Sweet Pea and nod my head so that he can stand up. He rolls his shoulders back and then looks to me for the next set of orders.

"Hey! Hey!" I shout. "Serpents!"

They finally stop the war with the very few low life scums that have graced Archie with their fists. Each Serpent stands up and looks to me, stopping the pain that they are inflicting on these terrible people.

"Come anywhere near Archie or any of our friends again, and we will make sure that you are brushing your teeth with your toes. Got that?" I demand.

I get a couple of nods but not very many answers. They are too afraid to answer. I thought they would have been fierce warriors. But instead I found myself the leader of a gang banging of a bunch of losers.

"As long as we're clear, Serpents, clear out," I demand.

I watch as each of them drop their prey and go back to their bikes. They start up. Sweet Pea puts his hand on my arm.

"Let's get the hell out of here," I say.

"Couldn't agree more," Sweet Pea says with a smile.

I move my heel from the kids throat and run back to my bike. We hurry onto our bikes before one of them has the time to call the police. We ride for a long time, fast and on back roads for as long as we can until we cross the bridge. I thought that I would feel satisfied, or even happy that we did that to those terrible people. But I don't. I don't feel great about it. Maybe they really did think that Archie killed Cassidy.

When we finally stop back in Sunnyside, I see Jughead standing outside of his trailer. I get off of the bike and toss my helmet down. I know that I am about to hear it from him so I step up and hold my hands out. He doesn't take them. He looks livid. His face is scared behind the mask of anger. His lips are pulled together. His eyebrows are drawn in. he is standing in nothing but his tank top, jeans and boots, sweat dripping down his face and chest. When I get no reaction, I just wait.

"What the actual hell were you thinking, Betty?" he demands.

"I was thinking that Arch needs someone to stand up for him. He is alone in the world. So many people think that he really killed Cassidy. I can't have the thinking that my best friend is a murder!" I shout.

He presses his lips together, crossing his arms over each other and looking around him. I turn around to see the others going back to their tents or trailers. Sweet Pea looks to me and gives me a small nod. I nod back and he makes his way to his tent.

"Sweet Pea was with you?" he asks.

"They were all with me, Jug," I tell him. I turn back to him, standing just below him because I know that he won't let me come back inside until he understands the same things that I do. I did this for a good reason but he just has to see that.

"I asked them to come with me. Only those who wanted to, did. It was a choice, Jughead. I would never make them do something like that."

"Did it make you feel better to get some blood out of it, Bets? Did it make you feel whole to beat someone else up because they hurt Archie?" I roll my eyes. I back down the steps when I realize that he is not going to understand what I mean. He grabs my arm and pulls me back toward him. I almost trip up the steps but he stops me, grabbing me and turning me back so that I am facing him again.

"Does hurting them make you any better than what they did to Archie?" he asks.

"No. It doesn't. And no, I don't feel good about it. But they deserved what they got and I don't care that it hurt. I wanted it to hurt. I don't regret it, Jug. They aren't going to go after him or anyone else again. Maybe they needed to learn that lesson."

His voice drops to a soft tone. He pulls me close so that we are on the same step. We are looking at each other when he whispers the next words.

"Did you have to be the one to teach it to them?" he asks.

"No. But I was."

He gives me a small smile and I realize that we might not agree but we don't have to. In this case, we did what we had to do. It's done and they deserved it. Him and I can deal with being different.

"You look sexy in your serpent jacket," he says with a smile.

"Oh yeah?" I ask.

He looks back to the door and then to me.

"Archie is asleep in the living room." He gives me that seductive smile that I know will lead to more so I smile back at him. "And you would look a whole lot better with nothing…but that serpent jacket on."

I feel nothing but warmth in my gut as Jughead leads me to the backroom. I forget my guilt. I forget the pain that Archie felt. I remember that we work together, even when the other one doesn't agree. We stand as a united front against the world.


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter Nineteen**

 **Betty**

"We have to be quiet," he whispers against my ear.

"I'm not the loud one," I tell him as I kiss his neck. He squeezes his hand around my arm. I know that I get him in that spot every time. He kisses along my neck, down to my chest as I grab the end of his shirt. I take it off, sending it to the ground around us and slipping out of my boots. He stumbles forward as we kiss, laughing.

"Don't fall into me," I say, joking.

"Kiss my neck," he begs.

I lean over to kiss his neck, tracing patterns on his skin and kissing him until I feel like biting. I let my teeth graze his neck, biting a little more than I intend to. He gasps when I do this but leans into me.

"God, Bets, I want to be inside you," he begs.

"Get there then," I tell him.

Jug pushes my jacket off and lets it fall to the bed. He rips my shirt off and then goes back to kissing me, pressing himself against my hips. He is pressed like this for several seconds before he pushes his hands down to my pants. He unbuckles them as quickly as he can with shaking hands.

I put my hand over him and his head falls to my shoulder. I start rubbing, making sure to circle him a little and then begin to undo his pants. I do it quickly as he shakes and leans toward me. I pull them down, revealing his boxers. He pushes his hips close to me.

"Put your jacket back on," he begs.

"Yeah?" I ask.

"I want you to ride me with it on," he says.

I smile as I slip it back on my arms and over my shoulders. He pulls his own underwear down so I do the same. He lays back on the bed. I crawl over him.

"Betty," he gasps before I sit on him to start riding him the way he wanted. I do this for several seconds, feeling nothing but pure bliss. I practically beg for it, needing more with every thrust and movement that I get.

"Jug," I whisper.

He puts his hand between us, rubbing me so that I arch my back. He grabs my sides, holding onto me so I don't fall over but still rubbing me just as much as I need. Soon that building sensation is driving me crazy. I try as hard as I can not to moan. I lean down and put my face in his neck, knowing that I am going to finish soon.

"Jug, I'm close," I say.

"I know. Finish Betty. I want my queen to feel good. I want to feel you," he whispers.

"I don't want to be loud," I admit.

"Bite me."

I bite as hard as I can as I finish around him, falling off that cliff, feeling nothing but bliss and perfection.

I gasp as I do this, breathing hard and coming completely still on top of him. He lets me rest there for no more than a second. I can feel him trying desperately to get me to move. His hips are thrusting with no movement, begging himself to go deeper, to get more friction. But I am suddenly so tired that I can't move.

He grabs me and throws me underneath of him, rolling so that I am on top of him. He starts thrusting right away.

"I'm close, Betty," he warns.

"I know," I say. "I can feel it."

It's not long before his eyes are clenching, his face is distorting and his hips are moving erratically and frantically into mine. He puts his arms on either side of me to hold himself up as he pushes into me.

"Betty, yes. Betty!"

I don't even bother shushing him. It is too late now. I watch as he falls off that same cliff, coming down from his high. He collapses on top of me and rests his head on my shoulder, breathing heavily for several long seconds. We breathe like this, thinking about nothing but recovery and bliss.

"I love you," I whisper to him.

"I love you too."

"Jug!" we hear from the other room.

He rolls off of me and then lays against the bed for a second before he throws his boxers back on.

"Jug," Archie says again.

"I sort of forgot he was here," Jug admits.

"You sort of moaned my name when you came," I say with a smile. he shrugs. I grab his S tee shirt and throw it on before I stand by the open doorway and watch. Jughead walks over to Archie and puts his hand on his shoulder. I see them both nod and then Jug stands up with him, helping him as he walks shakily to the bathroom. When Archie sees me, he shakes his head and looks almost disgusted. I mean, Jug came in to help him with nothing but his boxers on. We weren't exactly quiet. I'm sure he figured it out.

"You guys could've waited until I was asleep," Archie says.

"You were asleep," I say with a shrug.

"Until I was woken up by this one," Archie says, hitting Jug on the shoulder.

Jug helps him into the bathroom and then comes back out alone, holding out his hand to me. I pull him close and kiss him on the lips. He pulls away, a little surprised but happy.

"What?" I ask.

"We need to wait until he's asleep again for round two," he says.

"Round two?" I ask with a smirk.

"Two…three…four…five," he mutters against my lips. "All night for my queen."


	20. NEW PUBLISHED BOOK

**Hello Everyone! I have just recently published my fourth book. If you like young adult fiction about teens trying to get through life, you will like my book, "My Socially Awkward Friends and I". It is about a group of people who are just trying to get through high school with some serious and mild problems of their own.**

 **My-Socially-Awkward-Friends-I/dp/1985690926/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8 &qid=1543459751&sr=8-1&keywords=my+socially+awkward+friends+and+I**

 **Copy and paste the link to find it!**

 **Or search "My Socially Awkward Friends and I" on Amazon or Kindle.**

 **Can be purchased INTERNATIONALLY! If you would like a signed copy, let me know. Message me and we can work out details if you're having trouble finding it or if you want to get one from me.**

 **Thank you all for reading my stories and following! If you like my fanfiction style, you will probably like my book. I appreciate your support! I really appreciate the ones who have reviewed too!**

 **If you want to read young adult action based on fictional terrorist acts, please check out my other three books (series of three that is now complete): The Fight, The Battle and The War. You can look these up on amazon or find them under my name on amazon. Message me for me details.**

 **Anyway…read on!**


	21. Chapter 20

**Thanks for being loyal readers! Now my summer bughead fanfiction is now complete. That's right. This is the last chapter. Please review and read my two other bughead fanfictions for more!**

 **Chapter Twenty**

 **Jughead**

"We should get dressed," Betty mutters beside me.  
"Never." I pull her closer to me. She rests her head on my chest, putting her arm around my waist. I kiss the top of her head and squeeze her when she tries to move.

"We have to get to the court house for Archie," she says.

I breathe heavily trying to remember what normal life was like when we didn't have to go to the damn court house every other day, run our Serpents in tent city, somehow survive Betty's mother and remain Serpent King and Queen. Yeah, this is just the best most normal summer that I have ever head.

"I hate this," I say.

She turns her head to me, lifting herself up so that she can look into my eyes. She puts her hands on my chest as she sticks her lower lip out. She gives me those sad eyes that make me want to hold her forever and never let go.

"Me too," she admits.

"I hate knowing that Archie is going through all of this. He doesn't deserve it. We were all there. We are all sources. But those damn guys testifying that he did it, is just ruining everything," I say.

I put my hand down my face and let my head fall back on the pillow. I take a deep breath, trying to refocus myself.

"We have to get him out of this," Betty mutters.

"We have spent all summer thinking about him. You have been working with his lawyers every second that you aren't with the Serpents. I have been up to my ears in serpent problems. Veronica has been working non-stop at Pops trying to get the speak easy ready. None of us have had a chance to have a normal summer. We have only ever had normal moments during the summer and even those were overshadowed by Ghoulies or thugs or other problems that we didn't see coming."

She sits up and holds her hand out. I take it, intertwining our fingers together. She smiles when she looks down at our hands. I lean closer to her so that I can capture her lips in mine. I take this small moment of happiness and pure joy for granted, as I have taken all of these small moments.

"Things are going to get crazy," she admits after she pulls away.

"And we are going to be together during it all," I promise her. I know she needs to hear it. When things get rough, she gets worried. Rightfully so, the last few times that things got crazy, I retracted into myself and made things bad for her and a lot of other people around me. This time, I am not going to do that. When something is wrong, I am going to go to her instead of push her away. We are going to work on anything that might come up because I need her in my life.

And I know she needs me too.

"I love you," she says.

"I love you too," I say.

"Let's put our clothes on and go support our friend," she says.

I nod. I watch Betty as she slips her bra on and then her underwear, followed by pulling her dress up. I graze my fingers along her back before I pull the zipper up and dress her hair around her shoulders. She turns around, holding my waist in her hands. I want to pull her closer but know that I can't.

Instead, I get dressed and throw my hat back on.

I hold her hand and pull her out the door until we are at my bike. She keeps her hands around my waist tight as we start driving. I don't want to. But I let the open road make me think of nothing but green and grey in front of me. I let it distract me from my best friend going to court, my girlfriend getting us in trouble with the Ghoulies and my other friend's father somehow in charge of it all.

When we make it to the court room, I get off of the bike and hold my hand out to her. She takes it and steps off. Then I hear yelling.

"That's the bitch that was beating on us the other day!" someone shouts.

I turn to the source.

A Ghoulie.

Crap.

I put Betty behind me and step toward him. There are at least ten of them and two of us. They are right by the court house, a little further from the front door than I'd like. I don't want to run but I would like to get in there to support my friend. A few people from the press are on the steps too. I try avoiding it all.

"Get out of our way," I tell him.

"No way! You started this!" he shouts again.

"We can deal with this on serpent time! Right now, I am here for my friend," I demand. He steps closer to us. Betty pushes my arm aside so that she stands beside me now. I want to pull her behind me but know that she won't let me do it with them so close to us. I step closer to his face so that he knows I am not afraid of him. he won't do anything out her in the open around so many people.

"I don't care who you are here for. You better be leaving," he says.

"You're crazy. Move."

"And if I don't?" he asks, shoving my chest. I push my chest against his so he is forced to step backwards a little. I want to fumble him into the ground, beat him until he is nothing and then laugh in his face but decide not to. I can't. not here. This is Archie's day and he is already stressed enough.

"If you don't get out of our way, I will stab you in the throat with my heel after I shave off the first layer of your skin," Betty says.

I try not to look surprised. This girl will always amaze me. he looks irritated and maybe a little scared. He saw her in action the other night. She is serious about anything that she might say to the Ghoulies. When she hates, she finds that darkness that lives inside of her and she lets it out. She lets it ravage whatever is in her way.

"I wouldn't fight her on that one," I say to him, crossing my arms over my chest.

He looks as if he is considering the thought but then shakes his head, as if it's a stupid thought. I wonder how that guy thinks.

"Seriously man, you should see the scratch marks on my back," I say with a smirk. I wrap my arm around her shoulder and pull her closer. "Or the handcuff constrictions on my wrists…don't mess with a serpent queen, Ghoulie, you'll get the venom."

He gives a small laugh but then shrugs and turns to the rest of his gang. He nods his head toward the streets. They all start walking away. We watch until they are far enough away that we can trust it.

"We are definitely going to have to fight them again," I mutter.

"As long as I can get my hands around Penny's throat, I am good with that," Betty responds with a shrug.

We walk into the court room, linked and nervous. I can feel her entire body shaking. I try to keep mine under control. This is like the day that they told us the custody agreement. They said we had to live somewhere else until my parents got it together. Those prolonged moments where I was waiting for the hammer to drop, I was scared, nervous, shaking and holding a very sad baby girl.

Now I am scared, nervous, shaking and holding a very sad women in my arms.

We both see Archie at the same time. He is with his lawyers and Veronica. When Betty sees him, she rushes over and throws her arms around him. he hugs her tightly. It is a familiar hug. The kind of hug that means he is scared that he won't be able to hold her for a long time. I want to tell him to take his hands off of my girlfriend, make a joke, but I can't. I know he needs this. I want it for him.

Finally, he lets go. Betty, rests her hand on his forearm before going back to me. I pat my hand on his back.

"You've got this," I say.

"I don't know, man," Archie says. "It's not looking good."

"We don't know that. Let's not make the decision before they do," I say.

"We'll all be supporting you the whole time, Arch," Betty says.

"Hey, what was that about in the parking lot? We saw some Ghoulies talking to you guys," Veronica says.

"Don't worry about it," Betty says with a shrug.

"It was taken care of," I agree.

"Serpent business?" Archie asks. He doesn't like that we are a part of them, much less their leaders, but he has started to accept it a little bit more. Now that he realizes we aren't being reckless, he respects it a little more.

"Yeah," I admit.

"Guys, let's get in there," Mr. Andrews says.

We all turn to each other. We might be terrified, but we are ready for this all to be over. We have to have Archie back with us and we have to start high school again on Tuesday. This back and forth game of Russian roulette ends here.

I grab Betty's hand. She takes Veronica's and Veronica holds onto Archie. We walk in together, just as we always have and just as we always will.


	22. Bonus Chapter

**The trial is over. Archie is convicted of murder. But what will everyone else do? Bughead, Varchie, Archie/Jug friendships, Veronica/Betty friendships and even Veronica/Jug friendships.**

 **Jughead POV.**

 **Review! And thanks for all of the great suggestions!**

 **Bonus Chapter**

"Archie! Archie!" Veronica shouts.

She starts running toward him. I want to grab her wrist but she is already close to him. She turns past all of us and keeps going, calling out his name in fits of sobs. Betty looks to me. I give her sympathy but it is all I can muster without shedding my own tears. I touch her hand, brushing her skin as she walks past me to get to Veronica.

Betty envelopes Veronica in her arms. They hold each other when my dad turns around and looks at me.

"It's over?" I ask, making sure that I am not the only one that heard what just happened.

"It's over," Dad says. "I'm so sorry, son. There's nothing we can do."

This is crazy. Archie is going to a juvenile detention center and the trial is really over. Three months of hard work down the drain. None of us did any work to get that answer. It all came from two words spoken from the red paladin himself.

"I'm guilty," he said. The words echo my head as I hear Veronica sobbing into Betty's shoulder.

"Let me talk to him!" she shouts. "I just want to talk to him! Please! Please! Archie!"

I rush over to the both of the, pushing my way past a few unknowns who came to watch the trial. Betty is holding onto Veronica's arm, trying to pull her back. She is hold her, trying to control our friend. I grab Veronica's other arm and manage to pull her close. I put her arms across her chest and hold her close to me.

"No! No! Archie!" Veronica shouts.

Betty grabs her on the other side and we both end up making her stop moving all together. Finally, her head rests on my chest and she cries so hard I think I have never actually heard a human cry this loud before. It scares me. I look to Betty. She has tears on her face too but I can't cry. Not here. Not yet. They are both looking to me to be the strong one. I have to give them that.

"Archie," Veronica says, crying into my shirt. I hold both girls to my chest. Veronica shakes, holding her arms to her own chest. Betty puts her arms around Veronica too, holding her hands onto my shirt, clutching me as tight as she can.

"I'm so sorry," I whisper to both of them.

Archie looks back at me, one last glance. He doesn't cry. He doesn't even look afraid. He looks right in my eyes.

"Take care of them," he says.

I nod.

"I will."

Betty's eyes cry as she looks to me for what to do next. Once Veronica has settled down and Archie is truly gone, I let go of the girls. They hug for a while. I feel my dads hand on my shoulder.

"Hey," he says. "We need to get back home."

"I can't leave Betty."

"We all need to get back home now, Jug," he says. "Bring them out of the court room at least."

He's right. We can't be in here a second longer. I grab Betty's hand, pulling her close to me and wrap my arm around her shoulder. Veronica lets me put my hand on her waist and lead them both toward the exit. We walk out of the court room together. The three musketeers missing their fourth. Everyone watches. Everyone stares because they will all be looking to how we react, his best friends, the people that cared about him the most.

Once outside, I let them go but Betty never leaves my side. She keeps her arm around me the entire time, never even letting go of my shirt that is clutched in her hand.

"I guess I should get back home too," Veronica says.

"Do you want to stay at my place, V?" Betty asks, wiping underneath of her eyes.

"I'd love to but I think I should be home," she admits.

"Hey," I say, grabbing her wrist before she goes back to that evil man.

"You don't have to stay with him," I remind her.

She nods.

"Thank you, Jughead," she says. "But I have a few things to tell him first."

"Be strong," I tell her.

"We're always here for you, V," Betty says, squeezing her hand.

"Does anyone know what we do after this?" Veronica asks.

I shrug. I have no idea. I still feel lost, like I don't know if anything will ever be the same again.

"We're going to file an appeal," Betty says. "We're going to try everything we can to get him out of there as fast as we can. In the mean time, we can just visit him and try our hardest to go on."

Go on? What will the halls of Riverdale high be without Archie Andrews? What a sad thought. No Archie at games. No Archie at Pops. No Archie for double features. No Archie on pizza nights. No Archie when I can't stay at my own house.

That hurt a lot more than I thought it would.

"I'll talk to you guys soon," Veronica says.

"See you in school," Betty says.

When Veronica is gone and most people are leaving, I grab Betty. I pull her arm to me and wrap my arms around her, burying my face in her hair and keeping her close. She gets my need to be this close because she can feel it too.

"It's okay," she whispers. "He'll be fine."

"He'll be protected," I promise her. "He has the tattoo. That'll get him in with the serpents and keep him safe at least."

"But what about everything else…god, Archie. Why would he admit to that?" she asks, pulling away from me enough to look at me but not enough that she is too far. I keep my arms around her, feeling just as hurt and shaken as she is.

"He was afraid," I say. "He didn't want to put his friends through all of this again. You heard him. He just wanted it to be over."

"It is over now," she says. "But not in the way that we want it to be. Jug, what are we going to do?"

"Come stay with me," I beg of her. This is not a totally selfless offer. I want her to be with me because I don't want to be alone, not just because I want her to feel okay but she can tell that without me having to say it out loud.

"I wish I could," she says. "But my mom is crazy right now."

"Can I come in through the window?" I ask her.

She nods.

I grab her hands and make her open her fists. There are little crescent marks on her palms. I kiss them and then hold them to my chest.

"Take care of yourself while I'm gone," I beg. "I promise to be there soon."

I remember Dilton sitting at my house and it worries me. What the hell was he doing there and how am I supposed to care what on earth happened to him when Archie just got sent to jail?

"I love you," she says.

"I love you too," I tell her, kissing her palms.

Archie, why did you leave me? You know I can't take care of both of them on my own. But I promised him I would so now I just need to figure out how I am going to do it.

 **Thanks guys! Hope you enjoyed!**


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